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CRISIS IN GAZA STRIP, ITS SOLUTION AND ROLE OF UN

INTRODUCTION
1. Gaza is a small strip of land, approximately 25 miles long and six miles wide, on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. For the past 38 years, it has been controlled by Israel. It is home to more than 8,500 Jewish settlers and approximately 1.3 million Palestinians. Its shape and size were determined by the armistice agreement signed by Israel and Egypt after the first Arab-Israeli War (1948-1949). 2. Gaza is considered one of the fifteen territories in the world that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity." The armistice line between Egypt and Israel originally defined the Strips recent borders after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which followed the dissolution of the British mandate of Palestine. Conflict of Gaza crisis has got a quite long history.At present stage it burning question for peace loving people. 3. The paper is going to develop on the following steps: a. Genesis of the Recent Escalation and Present Situation. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Occupation of the Palestinian lands Mass killing Unemployment . Basic needs. Tunnel problem. b. Solution of the Crisis. (1) Two State solution (2) Bringing Harmony Among the Factions. (3) Stop Cross Border Violation. (4) Stop Killing Innocent People. (5) Creating Opportunity for Palestinian c. Role of UN (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Enforcing two state solution. Stopping the violence in West Bank immediately Assist in grooming up as a viable state Ensure basic needs. . Forming an international committee. Ensure proper distribution of UN aid.

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Aim
4. The aim of this paper is to focus on the present sit in Gaza Strip and solution and

role of UN in this aspect.

GENESIS OF THE RECENT ESCALATION AND PRESENT SITUATION IN GAZA.


5. The recent escalation in Gaza has made world silence with the breach of

humanity. But the reasons behind this massive offensive is not so obvious. It might be final assault to destroy and crush resistance of Hamas to form a new government in Gaza. There might be revenge behind it for defeat in Lebanon by Hezbollah or keep them suppressed about their right.
6. Occupation of the Palestinian lands in Gaza . Three basic arguments are being used by various Palestinian factions to claim that the Gaza Strip will still be "occupied" even after Israel has completely left. First, as long as the Palestinians are unable to exercise full sovereignty in Gaza, the Palestinian foreign minister, Nasser al-Kidwa, maintains that the territory is still "occupied," particularly because of Israel's continuing control of Gaza's territorial waters and its airspace. For Saeb Erekat, who heads the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department, since the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were designated as "one territorial unit" in the Oslo Accords, Gaza disengagement affects only a portion of the total territory under discussion and, therefore, its legal status remains unchanged. But "occupation" is not just a rhetorical or political term. It is first and foremost a legal term in international law. The legal termination of occupation clearly does not require that all the political demands of one party in a territorial conflict be met in full. That would make the end of occupation highly subjective. Instead, it must be based on certain legal criteria being met. 7. Mass killing in Gaza . Israel military in their 22 days relentless and indiscriminate missile fires by F16 jets and bombing by Apache gun helicopters and tanks and use of phosphorous on residential houses, school, hospitals, humanitarian charity offices and UN refugee camps killed over 1300 innocent people including more than 400 children and wounding more five and half thousand men, woman and children. It was a campaign of racial hatred, extermination and cleansing of Palestinian of their own land. 8. Unemployment in Gaza .The unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip now stands at 45 percent, higher than anywhere else in the world, according to a report released recently by 2 RESTRICTED

RESTRICTED the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Nearly 95 percent of all factories operating in Gaza have been closed down in recent years, says the report. Israel's year long economic blockade on the coastal territory and repeated closure of electricity and fuel sources have also contributed to the humanitarian crisis. According to a separate report published by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the unemployment rate in the West Bank reached 25 percent between July and December 2007 - double the average rate in the Middle East and North Africa region.

9. Basic Need . Gaza Nearly four months since the end of hostilities in Gaza, it is increasingly apparent that massive needs are going unmet, and reconstruction is stalled. Donors have pledged money for humanitarian aid and for Gaza reconstruction, but on the ground the flow of goods compared to the needs is wholly inadequate, and reconstruction is in practice impossible.Roughly 75 percent of the 1.5 million residents of Gaza require some kind of assistance. But even the most essential imports are subject to intense limitations by Israeli authorities. Only food and a few other items are allowed in. Reconstruction materials and essential spare parts of all kinds are essentially banned. An Israeli ban on exports, apart from a few lorry-loads of flowers, has exacerbated the situation by further crushing Gazas job-creating industries.Protection, food, water, healthcare and shelter are basic human needs, not bargaining chips. It is high time that fact is recognized by all the parties responsible for the immense suffering in Gaza today. 10. Tunnel Problem. The tunnels connect the Egyptian town of Rafah with the Palestinian refugee camp of Rafah. These tunnels were primarily constructed for the purpose of illegal arms smuggling to supply terrorist activity[citation needed] but have subsequently also been used to smuggle people (in and out) as well as for commercial profit making smuggling of as medicine, food and clothes, cigarettes, alcohol, and vehicle parts into Gaza.Rafah is located on the borderline of the Gaza Strip and Egypt. As a result of this geographical location, it accommodated tunnels and has a history of smuggling. These tunnels were and are mainly used by Palestinian militant organizations and gangs for weapon smuggling, and bringing cheap goods from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM 11. Two State solution. A two-state solution, a comprehensive peace, for Israel and the occupied territories. A two-state solution envisions two separate states in the Western portion of the historic region of Palestine, one Jewish and another Arab to solve the IsraelPalestine conflict. According to the idea, the Arab inhabitants would be given citizenship by the new Palestinian state; Palestinian refugees would likely be offered such citizenship as well. Arab citizens of present-day Israel would likely have the choice of staying with Israel, or becoming citizens of the new Palestine. 12. Bringing Harmony Among the Factions. The two-state solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict. It is contrasted with other options, most notably the Jordanian Option, 3 RESTRICTED

RESTRICTED also known as the 'no-state solution' and the 'Allon Plan', and the binational solution, which could either be twin regime federalist arrangement or a unitary state. 13 Stop Cross Border Violation. Under the conditions prevalent at an uncontrolled border many unwanted incidents may take place.As the conflict over Gaza heats up and Israeli incursions and attacks increase the civilian body count, Arab public opinion will only become more inflamed by the graphic television images being broadcast out of the Strip. 14. Stop Killing Innocent People. War brings blood and ceases lot of lives. But the death of innocent civilian is the violation of human rights. Now in both Palestine and Israel are affected through this escalation. This should be stopped immediately. 15. Creating Opportunity for Palestinian. The massive attack has destroyed the structure of the development. To regain the dev flow scope of work needs to be ensured.

ROLE OF UN. 16. Enforcing Two State Solution. The Palestinians want sovereignty over the Gaza strip and the west bankterritories Israel gained control over in the 1967 war. Israel withdrew from Gaza 2005 , but Jewish settlements in the West Bank remain. A deal could include land swap for Arab dominated areas inside Israel. 17. Stopping the violence in West Bank immediately. Israeli-Palestinian security coordination,ensure a viable cease-fire, and maintain calm on the ground by training the Palestinian security personnel and working with Egypt to reconfigure the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) currently stationed in Sinai to patrol the border between Gaza and Egypt. These measures would build muchneeded confidence between the Israelis and the Palestinians. In addition Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, andSyria, are reeling from internal demonstrations in support of democratization,giving the United States a new source of leverage to get them behind the peace process. 18. Assist in grooming up as a viable state. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) had temporarily suspended all but its emergency health and food programmes in Gaza last week after the killing of two of its workers. WFP called on all parties in the occupied Palestinian territory to respect the independence and neutrality of humanitarian workers and installations and calls on parties concerned to return the stolen goods and equipment immediately, adding that it could only continue its operations so long as the safety of its goods and staff is assured. The agency estimates that it currently helps about 665,000 people in the West Bank and Gaza. 19. Ensure Basic Needs. In Gaza today, humanity has taken a back seat to politics, and a measly trickle of items has become the most the world can offer civilians trapped by a political stalemate not of their making. The work of rebuilding the infrastructure ruined during the invasion and by almost two years of closure, and providing for Gazas most vulnerable the children and aged must be elevated from an afterthought to a priority.Protection, food, water, healthcare and shelter are basic human needs, not bargaining 4 RESTRICTED

RESTRICTED chips. It is high time that fact is recognized by all the parties responsible for the immense suffering in Gaza today. UN representative to ensure the normal flow of basic need. 20. Forming an international committee . Britain, anxious to rid itself of the problem, set the United Nations in motion, formally requesting on April 2, 1947, that the U.N. General Assembly set up the Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). This committee recommended that the British mandate over Palestine be ended and that the territory be partitioned into two states. But now the present crisis demands an international committee to bring peace in Gaza .

21. Ensure Proper Distribution of UN AID . to help the Gaza people the help of money and equipment. These help neeeds proper distribution to the affected people. For example, it could be used to provide urgent shelter for the most vulnerable. The UN estimates that around 100,000 people have been displaced as a result of the conflict within Gaza and over 28,000 live in temporary shelters. The 1 million contribution will help the UN's local Humanitarian Coordinator to quickly allocate funds to emerging priorities, making them available to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other organisations with staff on the ground to meet immediate humanitarian needs.

CONCLUSION 22. Gaza disengagement has evoked global interest in one of the most complex and critical issue of the world. As of now, however, it seems to stem out of political expediency rather than moral needs.The irony of the innocent people should terminate very soon is the sole desire of time now. When Palestenian will move to schools and get the books to educate the young generation of who has been deprived of the basic education and their subsequent employment, will not only do good to the Palestinian community rather will benefit the Israel as well, who has a acute shortage of skilled labour. 23. End the disproportionate destruction of Palestinian lands, water and other resources and Palestinian Authority infrastructure for social services, so that the Palestinians can become self-sufficient and sustain a functioning economy, which will be vital for a future Palestinian State

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RECOMMENDATION

24.

Self-determination for the People of Palestine.

The people of Palestine,

like all people, have the right to determine their own destiny. This will take form in the social, economic, political, and cultural structures they create. . 25. law.

Following Geneva Convention. The Israeli Supreme Court should

recognize the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention as part of customary international

Annex:
A. Map of Gaza Strip Distribution: Directing Staff Potential Platoon Commanders course

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Books and Magazine. The Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Occupation.(Boston: South End Press, 1989), Dhaka Courier (23- 29 January 2009 ,Time January 19, 2009. Web Sites 1. www.wikipedia.com. 2. www.un.org. 3. www.isn.org. 4. www.cfr.org. 5. www.foreignaffairs.org. 6. www.ipripak.org. 7. www.rand.org. 8. www.brookings.edu. 9. www.worldpolicy.org/journal.

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