A recent report by French newspaper Le Monde exposes a stark paradox in Gaza.

Notwithstanding the ceasefire agreement and Israel’s pledge to permit humanitarian aid, the entry of desperately needed items is being blocked.

Toothless humanitarian agreement

Palestinians find themselves trapped between unfulfilled promises and a punishing reality. The west touts the ceasefire as its crowing achievement, oblivious to the conditions of the ground.

The excessive ban — widely perceived as arbitrary, vague, and retributive — has tightened the stranglehold on the Gaza strip.

There are currently two million people living in a besieged city, where the risk of famine and epidemics is more acute than ever.

Le Monde, citing local aid organisations, characterises ‘access denial’ as a tacit strategy.

The newspaper notes that while in full-swing, the ban has not been officially endorsed by Israel’s COGAT apparatus — otherwise known as the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories.

Its ever-expanding scope, many observers note, is justified by the flimsy classification of relief items as ‘dual use’ goods.

The pretext of ‘Dual Use’ strangles Gaza

So what are they? These, as Le Monde reports, include essential daily-use items — tent poles, sterilisation equipment, truck spare parts, greenhouse tarpaulins, vaccination syringes, and potato seeds.

The assumption is items could fall into the wrong hands and used for military purposes. How exactly could a tent or a medical syringe be linked to military use?

This poses a grave threat to the reconstruction effort in Gaza, intentionally obstructed under the pretext of ‘dual use’.

Access denial will set back major reconstruction work, needed after whole neighbourhoods vanished from Gaza’s skyline Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.

People’s basic needs remain dangerously unmet due to the destruction of critical sectors and public infrastructure. Hospitals urgently need sterilisation equipment to treat serious injuries and surgical complications.

This denial, compounded by winter conditions, exacerbates the suffering of Gazans.

The agricultural sector has nearly collapsed altogether, due to the ban on greenhouse covers and potato seeds. Residents are beholden to aid handouts, limited to what Israel deems acceptable.

War by alternative means

At the same time, construction and supply lines have been severely disrupted. Without spare parts for tanker trucks, fuel and water transport have come to a halt, further damaging basic services and sanitation and impeding their recovery.

Le Monde likens the situation to a slow, attritional war waged through the control of goods entering and leaving the strip.

UN organisations have warned that the ban goes beyond access constraints, which Gazans fear will diminish the prospect of economic self-reliance and increases donor dependency.

Gazans remain caught between a rock and a hard place. They have no protection from violence nor consistent aid to stave off hunger and build their city anew.

Featured image via Al Jazeera