More than six months after the end of Israel’s incursion into Gaza in January, universities damaged in the fighting are still awaiting repair.
An Israeli and Egyptian ban on the import of building materials into the Gaza Strip for fear they will be used to bolster Hamas has prevented the start of any wide-scale reconstruction work.
The university hardest hit was the Islamic University of Gaza, accused by Israel of being used by Hamas for the research and development of rockets and other military materiel—a claim vigorously denied by university officials.
The university, with about 20,000 students, is the largest in the Gaza Strip.
Two Islamic University buildings, including an engineering laboratory, were completely destroyed by Israeli bombing during the incursion, and others were badly damaged.
“If we want just the reconstruction we need maybe $5-, $6-million, but if we want to have the equipment as well, we will need about $15-million,” Kamalain K. Sha’ath, the university’s president, told The Chronicle.
“The buildings are still demolished. All we did was remove the rubble. We are looking forward to beginning the reconstruction,” he said.
“We need cement, aluminum, tiles—we need everything,” he said. “Meanwhile, we squeeze ourselves in the spaces we have. We have some makeshift laboratories and have people squeezed in rooms. … We have some temporary laboratories here and there, and we have the use of some laboratories in other universities.”
But “without having construction material coming in, nothing will be done regarding reconstruction,” he said.
At the nearby Al-Aqsa University, which suffered some $1.5-million worth of damage during the Israeli assault, plastic sheeting still covers empty window frames.
Robert H. Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, described the situation as completely unacceptable.
“What is it, six months now that we’ve had a devastating war in Gaza, and not one spade has been put in the ground, Mr. Serry told the Media Line news agency.
Last week the Israelis allowed a single consignment of cement into Gaza for U.N. projects.
Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry, told The Chronicle that Israel had no plans to approve more because of previous experience when Hamas captured shipments of supplies destined for the United Nations.
“The decision is that only humanitarian aid is allowed into Gaza,” said Mr. Dror. “The other stuff has to be approved by the government. We have to check if it’s going to be some kind of assistance to Hamas or not. It’s a very difficult issue.”
“Take cement, for example. Is this to go for construction or building bunkers for the Hamas? For U.N. projects we have to watch carefully if the U.N. really used it,” he said.
But Mr. Serry said the Israeli government was also using the blockade as pressure to secure the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas more than three years ago.
“If you ask me what is the real issue on the Israeli side, I think it is Gilad Shalit,” Mr. Serry said. “They will not allow any serious amounts of construction materials to go into Gaza as long as that issue is not resolved.”
