(NEWS) "Breathing Space", Math Behind Israel's Blockade On Gaza

"Documents recently released in Israel after a Freedom of Information Act petition by a local advocacy group, detail Israel's mathematical formula for monitoring and allowing aid and food into the Gaza Strip.

The formulas, adopted in 2007 by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) after Israel tightened its maritime blockade on Gaza, detailed a formulaic 'breathing space' to assess and categorize the amounts of supplies to be allowed into Gaza and how long they are expected to last before necessary replacement, local daily Ha'aretz reported on Tuesday.



COGAT is run by the Israeli Defense Ministry, and coordinates civilian affairs between the Israeli government, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and international groups and diplomats.

The formulas are used for 'regulation, supervision and evaluation of supply of inventories in Gaza,' according to a senior COGAT official speaking with the newspaper, and are 'based on well-known basic foodstuffs, in consultation with the Israeli Health Ministry and in consideration of family consumption habits in Gaza, as published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2006.'

The official said that the regulations would 'supply the basic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population,' according to criteria including 'the necessity of the product for meeting humanitarian needs (including its implications for public health in both the Strip and Israel ), the product's image (whether it is considered a luxury ), legal obligations, and the sensitivities of the international community.'

The document allows for factoring in 'the days of (remaining) inventory beyond which the relevant official must pay attention to the deviation from reasonable norms and examine the correctness of the model,' and stipulate long and short-term shelf-life limits for perishables.

Input by the PNA, international agencies, the media and nongovernmental organizations petitioning the Israeli government were among the entities that also affected Israel decisions on quantities and range of goods, according to the document.

The COGAT official, however, told Ha'aretz that, in reality, that the quantity of items that were eventually allowed into Gaza were always greater than the dry regulations would allow." (source)

(NEWS) Israeli, Palestinian Officials Discuss Lifting Blockade On Gaza

"Palestinian and Israeli officials met Tuesday at the Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel on delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza, a Palestinian liaison official said Wednesday.

During the three-hour meeting, the two sides discussed delivering the banned items to Gaza, including construction materials, said Raed Fattouh, head of the Palestinian liaison committee with Israel.



Ten Palestinian businessmen told the Israeli side about the grave consequences of the tree-year embargo which paralyzed the economy of the enclave, Fattouh said.

Israeli placed Gaza under a tight blockade after the Islamic Hamas movement, Israel's sore foe, violently grabbed control of the territory in 2007.

The Palestinian liaison committee is linked to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Ramallah but has no connections with the deposed Hamas government of Gaza.

'We also discussed the issue of sending our goods to the outside world, allowing more merchants and patients to get into Israel and increasing the amount of electricity we buy from Israel,' Fattouh said.

The Israeli side said they need some time to study the requests and then give their final answer, he added.

Israel decided to relax its blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to avoid mounting international criticism after its naval commandos killed nine activists aboard an aid ship bound for Gaza in May." (source)

(NEWS) Gaza-Bound Aid Convoy Arrives In Syrian Territories

"DAMASCUS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Viva Palestina 5, a Gaza-bound international aid convoy, has crossed the Turkish-Syrian borders late Saturday.

The convoy which consists of 43 vehicles carrying medical, food aids and some 400 pro-Palestinian activists, arrived Saturday night in the Syrian Bab el-Hawa border point, 380 km north of Damascus. It was received by hundreds of Syrians and members of Palestinian organizations.



'The convoy aims at raising the international focus on Gaza,' Nichole Marsh, one of the convoy's leaders from New Zealand told Xinhua.

'It's led by British former parliament member George Galawi, who will join us within a couple of days,' she added.

Pippa Bartolotti, a pro-Palestinian activist from Britain, said 'the most important thing is to raise the attention of media, not the Syrian and Turkish media but the U.S. and British.'

Viva Palestina movement has organized three massive land convoys to Gaza in the last 18 months, all of which have delivered their aid.

Israel has imposed a comprehensive siege on Gaza Strip after Hamas achieved a vast majority in the Palestinian legislative elections in December 2006.

In May, Israeli navy forces stormed a Turkish Gaza-bound aid ship and detained some 700 people aboard. The incident killed at least nine pro-Palestinian activists, which sparked widespread condemnation." (source)

(NEWS) IDF Bombs Gaza Tunnels After Rocket Attack

"Israel on Saturday night launched three airstrikes on southern Gaza Strip targets, mainly tunnels under the borders between Egypt and the enclave, wounding four Palestinians, witnesses said.

According to witnesses, Israeli F-16 warplanes carried out three airstrikes, the first targeted a tunnel east of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, the warplanes then struck two other tunnels used for smuggling, wounding at least four Palestinian workers who were then in one of the tunnels.

Medics in Rafah town said rescue teams have found a wounded worker while efforts are exerted to take the other three out of the tunnel.

Israeli airstrikes came after a homemade rocket was fired earlier by Gaza militants at southern Israel. No injuries or damages were reported.

The Gaza-based pro-Hamas Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for the rocket attack." (source)

(NEWS) Iran Calls On Muslim Nations To Isolate Israel

"Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday called on the Muslim nations in the world to isolate Israel.

Talking to reporters in his weekly press briefing, Mehmanparast said that all the Islamic countries should isolate Israel politically and economically.

He said people around the world will participate in the International Quds Day rallies, slated for Sept. 3, for announcing their support for the Palestinian people and their hatred towards Israeli atrocities.

Quds Day is an annual event on the last Friday of Ramadan, expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposing Zionism as well as Israel's control of Jerusalem.

On Monday, Iran's Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajeddini said that Iran will publish a list of Israeli-linked companies by next week to impose sanctions against them.

Mir-Tajeddini said that Israel has an influential economic cartel across the world and it is constantly establishing new companies under new brands and Iran will expose them, the local satellite Press TV reported." (source)