2017 brings cautious optimism to Gaza Strip
Poverty and unemployment continue to rise; a reported 75 percent of the Palestinian population in Gaza received regular financial and food aid from UN organizations, the Palestinian government and local charities.
The early days of 2017 seemed to promise a reprieve from Gaza’s ongoing electricity crisis — with power available for just a few hours each day on a rolling blackout schedule — when Qatar and Turkey intervened to provide the necessary quantities of diesel to operate the Strip’s sole power plant.
Gazans’ joy was short-lived, however.
In March, Hamas — which has ruled Gaza since its split with Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 2007 — formed an administrative committee to handle Gaza’s governmental affairs, effectively establishing a substitute government in all but name.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by imposing severe sanctions, including a significant reduction in the quantity and variety of medicine sent by the Ministry of Health in Ramallah to the Gaza Strip, as well as a reduction in the number of medical referrals for patients to receive treatment outside the strip.
And in April, the PA informed Israel it would no longer pay for the electricity Israel supplies to Gaza, meaning Israel reduced the amount of electricity supplied by the Strip’s plant from 120 megawatts to 70, bringing the number of hours during which electricity was available down still further and putting health services at risk.
This step came, Reuters reported, after the PA had already “slashed,” by 30 percent, the salaries of “the civil servants who are one of the mainstays of Gaza’s economy,” shrinking Hamas’ tax revenue and threatening the livelihoods of Gaza’s store owners.
Abbas had likely been further angered by the return to Gaza of Yahya Sinwar — a Hamas leader who has spent decades in Israeli jails — as the Strip’s new prime minister.
Sinwar’s return, followed by that of Ismail Haniyeh in May as the newly elected head of the group’s political bureau, meant that Hamas’ leadership was based in Gaza for the first time in more than 20 years — during which time the group’s main decision makers were living in exile.
Despite Sinwar’s reputation for extremism, violence and exclusion, he proved to be a pragmatic leader, and immediately began to make conciliatory gestures to the Westernbacked PA. In late April, Hamas indirectly declared its intention to terminate its membership of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and a number of other Arab countries — disassociating itself from a group regarded by many PA allies as an extremist organization.
In the same document declaring that intention, Hamas also expressed for the first time in its history a willingness to accept an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders — thereby including the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem — having previously insisted that Palestine should be marked by its historic borders.
On June 4, the 10th anniversary of the Fatah-Hamas divide, Sinwar landed in Cairo and took the first steps toward a reconciliation with Fatah, with the help of Mohammed Dahlan — head of the newly formed Fatah Reformist and Democratic Party — and Egyptian authorities.
In September, Hamas announced the dissolution of the Gaza administrative committee, paving the way for talks with Abbas.
By Oct. 2, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was making a “historic visit” to Gaza accompanied by various ministers, to officially assume control of the Strip’s administrative affairs. It was a hugely significant moment, promising a unified Palestine once again.
On Nov. 1, as part of the Cairo agreement, Hamas also handed over control of the three crucial Gaza Strip border crossings: Rafah, the gateway to Egypt; and the Israeli border exits Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Beit Hanoun (Erez).
Progress since has not been so smooth, however. While the official Palestinian government is once again operating in Gaza, there remain several stumbling blocks to full reconciliation, including the fate of around 50,000 employees hired by Hamas in Gaza; reforms of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is in charge of the stalled peace talks with Israel; and the logistics of presidential and legislative elections in Palestine.
However, such concerns (including missed deadlines for reconciliation conditions to be met) were overshadowed on Dec. 6 by US President Donald Trump’s
GAZA CITY: 2017 has been a momentous year for the 2 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip — an area of only 365 sq. km. They have witnessed a series of major political and social developments — in particular the Egyptbrokered reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah, which promises much for the future but has yet to truly affect the grim reality on the ground.
announcement that America had formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and that the US Embassy would be relocated to the Holy City.
Fighting quickly erupted along the Gaza-Israel border and has left many Gaza residents fearing an escalation into all-out war. And so, despite several moments of positivity, the year ended with the people of Gaza once again facing an uncertain future.