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Bridging the gap to a two-state solution

Mason, Robert (2011) Bridging the gap to a two-state solution. International Affairs at LSE (31 Jan 2011). Website.

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Abstract

Gaza has remained under three layers of import control since 2007. Firstly, under banned items classified as ‘dual use’ by the international Wassenaar Arrangement. Secondly, under Israel’s own list for the West Bank and thirdly, under Israel’s list for Gaza which includes compliance with Israeli standards (industrial, environmental, medical and telecommunications). The result is that very few goods (restricted types of goods and minimal volumes) have been allowed into Gaza from Israel which has resulted in a ‘tunnel economy’, whereby Hamas earns its core funding from taxing smuggled goods between Egypt and Gaza. The Israeli government’s banned list was revised from a positive list to a negative list after the 5th May 2010 Flotilla incident, but still precludes cement and reinforced steel pipes from entering Gaza because they can be used to build bunkers and make rocket launchers respectively. Only international agencies such as the United Nations or the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) can bring in steel and cement to build public projects. Furthermore, only 7% of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (NRWA) reconstruction projects in Gaza have been approved by Israel (see Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade, published by 26 aid agencies ). In a recent interview with the author Dr Tim Williams, at the Office of the Quartet Representative, he also stated that the Flotilla incident had simultaneously led to both bureaucratic and implementation-related (infrastructure and crossings) problems which Minsters are still trying to resolve. Short term permits are certainly not enhancing the territorial integrity and ease of movement that was envisaged originally in the 1991 Oslo Accords.

Item Type: Online resource (Website)
Official URL: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/ideas/
Additional Information: © 2011 The Author(s)
Divisions: IGA: LSE IDEAS
Subjects: J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General)
J Political Science > JZ International relations
Date Deposited: 03 Jul 2017 10:23
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2023 18:25
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/83030

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