Background
During November and December 2001 UNRWA
continued its emergency operations against the backdrop of continuing violence,
obstacles to movement and destruction of property. While there was some
lessening of violence during November in the West Bank, where Israeli forces
withdrew from towns occupied the previous month, by the end of November
UNRWA recorded 36 Intifadarelated Palestinian deaths and 196 injuries in
the West Bank. Among the dead was a 12- year-old pupil in the UNRWA boys'
school in Dheisheh refugee camp, Bethlehem, killed in the afternoon of
25 November.
In the Gaza Strip during November, twenty Palestinians were killed in armed clashes and 124 injured. 94 mortar attacks and 28 attacks with locally made rockets were recorded against Israeli targets, inside and across the borders of the Strip. In one harrowing incident in Khan Younis, five children from the same extended family on their way to elementary school were killed when an Israeli mine exploded. The next day a 15-year old boy was shot in the head and killed while joining mourners throwing stones at an Israeli outpost.
Some of the largest shelter-destruction operations undertaken by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Intifada were recorded during the month: 39 shelters accommodating 56 families were destroyed in operations at Khan Younis during the night of 14 November and at Rafah during the night of 19 November.
Violence worsened following suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa on 1 December that left 26 Israelis dead and 220 injured. Israeli forces struck at installations belonging to the Palestinian Authority, in some instances using F-16 aircraft, and on 4 December Israeli military forces in the West Bank again entered Ramallah, Tulkarm and Nablus.
On 5 December, 30 UN international staff were relocated temporarily from Gaza to Jerusalem or Amman, following attacks by the Israeli Air Force on targets in the Gaza Strip over the previous two days. The majority of international UN personnel, and all international staff working for UNRWA's Field Office in Gaza, remained in place. Aerial attacks on Palestinian Authority installations in the Gaza Strip continued for several days.
The Gaza Strip was split into three areas by Israeli forces, and for some five days the movement of vehicles and people from one area to another was largely prohibited, including movement of UNRWA personnel. Movement within the West Bank came almost to a complete halt, with Palestinians prohibited from leaving areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Another UNRWA school pupil lost his life, an 11-year old from Kalandia camp, who was struck by a bullet in his head on 8 December, and died three days later.
On 12 December an Israeli bus in the West Bank was attacked and several passengers were killed. Israeli forces moved into Ramallah, El-Bireh and the Amari refugee camp and surrounded Tulkarm and Nablus. In shelling by Israeli forces, the UNRWA Women's Training Centre in Ramallah was hit by shrapnel. On 22 December, around 9.30 a.m., while students were in class, UNRWA's girls' school in the Jenin refugee camp came under heavy fire by Israeli forces. Although there were no injuries, the building sustained damages. Aerial attacks against Palestinian Authority installations became more intense on the night of 12 December, when bombardments by F-16 warplanes on installations in the Gaza Strip lasted five hours.
On 13 December, after an attack on an Israeli settlement at Gush Qatif the day before, Israeli forces imposed a curfew on the Mawasi area of Rafah and Khan Younis, which was already under closure. UNRWA had earlier on 10 December been denied access to the area before finally being able to distribute food to 641 refugee and non-refugee families on 11 December. Curfews from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. continued to be imposed through the period under review.
In mid-December US envoy Anthony Zinni left the region after nearly three weeks of effort to forge a ceasefire and facilitate the reopening of negotiations. In the course of the month, 48 Palestinians in the West Bank were reported killed and 368 injured. In the Gaza Strip, 47 Palestinians were reported killed and 342 injured. 39 Israelis were reported killed and 318 injured. Demolition activities by Israeli forces continued in the Gaza Strip. During December, 40 more dwellings that were home to 60 families, totalling 320 persons, were completely or partially destroyed.
In December, the University of Geneva reported extensively on survey findings with regard to the effects of the Intifada, Palestinian public perceptions, socio-economic issues and poverty.1 The survey confirms the extent to which refugees, especially camp residents, are among the worst affected by the crisis, and confirms the role and significance of UNRWA's emergency assistance. 29 per cent of refugee-camp respondents to the survey reported losing their employment as a result of the Intifada. 46 per cent of households living in West Bank refugee camps fell below the poverty line, and among residents of refugee camps in the Gaza Strip the rate reaches 65 per cent. 79 per cent of respondents who were previously employed in Israel and now have household incomes below the poverty line are residents of refugee camps. 60 per cent of respondents to the survey reported to be living below the poverty line are camp residents, 75 per cent of these being in the Gaza Strip. The highest ratio of dependant persons per worker, by place of residence, was found to be among refugee camp residents in the Gaza Strip. Refugee camps in the West Bank more often than in Gaza are cut off from neighbouring cities and services.
Pledges to UNRWA's Third Emergency Appeal rose further during November and December and have reached nearly 82 per cent of the USD 76.9 million required. However, contributions actually received amount to only 51 per cent of appeal requirements.
Footnote
1"International and Local Aid during the Second Intifada, Report 3, December 2001", Graduate Institute of Development Studies (IUED), University of Geneva,http://www.unige.ch/iued/new/information/publications/pdf/FinalReportIII=5Fv8.5.pdf