According to the Projects in Gaza report by COGAT, 235 projects were approved by them during the period of 2010 - 2012 :
Over the past two years the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has approved 235 internationally sponsored projects in conjunction with the Palestinian Authority. By and large these projects are related to building housing, schools, clinics, roads, agricultural installations and other civilian infrastructure. ... COGAT has approved 88% of the 268 project requests, and those that have been denied may be approved in the future, subject to some alterations in their plans (i.e. location) ... As of fall 2012, only 57% of projects have been, or are currently being executed. By and large this phenomenon has been attributed to a lack of funding.
Out of these 235 approved projects:
- 17 projects were in Housing sector,
- 17 projects were for Clinics,
- 94 projects were in the Education sector,
- 37 projects were under the Water and Sewage category,
- 14 projects were for Roads,
- 39 projects were for other Infrastructure and
- 17 projects were in Agriculture.
The international sponsors for these projects included UNDP, UNRWA, USAID, JICA, KFW, Islamic Development Bank, AFC, World Bank etc.
These economic blockades and control increased tension between Israel and Palestine and lead to the 2014 Gaza War (Operation Protective Edge). The war increased international attention on Israel's blockades. The blockade on construction material was particularly criticised because an economy depends on infrastructure to be created for its development. To counter the criticism, Israel aimed at "rebranding" the construction material blockade as the "Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM)" by roping in the UN.
Since the establishment of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM), and as of January 2017, over 6.5 million tons of construction materials have been transferred into the Gaza Strip. ... The GRM has also brought about the construction of public projects in the fields of medicine, infrastructure, education, economics, and others. These projects include constructing the residential neighborhood of "Sheikh Hamad" in Khan Yunis, paving and repairing roads, creating desalination plants and wastewater treatment plants, constructing new hospitals, community centers, stadiums, schools, and more. Some 189 public projects have been completed and approximately another 475 projects are in various stages of progress.
As per the GRM report, from 2014 till date, construction projects completed included:
- 394 in the Housing sector (large scale residential buildings),
- 143 under Water cateory (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene related facilities),
- 181 Roads (trunk roads to small access),
- 11 in the Energy sector (Electricity, gas and other energy facilities),
- 79 in the Education sector (Schools, colleges and professional associations),
- 30 in the Health sector (hospitals or other primary health care centres),
- 9 in Agriculture (facilities to support agricultural activities),
- 84 in Public Facilities (Municipal facilities such as mosques or public spaces) and
- 42 in the private sector (Private, commercial buildings).
This is an example of how Israel still treats Palestinian territories like its colonies and denies them their sovereignty through various colonial era policies it has customised for its needs.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), under the Ministry of Defence, controls the administration of Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) by co-ordinating between the Government of israel, the IDF, International oranisations, diplomats and the Palestinian Authority. Since Gaza was vacated by the Israelis in 2005, The Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), headed by a Colonel and working under COGAT, was created for the indirect control of the Gaza strip - by means of blockades of goods that control what can be imported / exported into the Gaza strip. Thus, the CLA administers the Erez Crossing and the Kerem Shalom Crossing to dictate Palestinian movements and goods to and from the Gaza strip.
Construction material and equipments are some of the products that Israel largely denies to the private sector in the Gaza strip. Under its current policies, it only allows the import of construction materials through a list of approved vendors, and mostly for public projects backed by international organisations. Israeli governments tend to use these projects in propaganda at local and international critics by claiming that Israel allows these projects at risk to its security and that the construction activity substantially increase Palestinian GDP:
Israel’s expanded civilian policy contributed to Gaza’s 19% and 23% GDP growth in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The local economy improved, prices were lowered, orders for raw materials rather than finished products increased, and there have even been reports
of exports via the tunnels.
But, the truth of course is more complex - The staggering economic cost of occupation: The Palestinian economy would be at least twice as large without Israeli occupation, UNCTAD report says.
References:
Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, tantamount to ‘settler-colonialism’: UN expert
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA)
Projects in Gaza 2010-2012 (PDF)
Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM)
GRM.report
