Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 385: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the effects, if any, of the partial lifting of the blockade by Israel on human rights in Gaza. [38611/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The blockade of Gaza remains in force, in the sense that Israel continues to require that it be able to control and security screen goods entering the strip, and for this reason it continues to prevent any direct shipments by sea to Gaza. However, a number of measures have been taken to relax the conditions for goods entering Gaza by the land crossings from Israel. The previous highly restricted and opaque list of goods which were allowed into Gaza has been replaced by a more transparent 'negative list' of goods which are not allowed in, principally materials recognised internationally as dual use goods. For the wide range of food and consumer goods, the previous restrictions have therefore been removed.

The overall volume of goods allowed into Gaza has been progressively increased, and now stands at about 50% higher than before the summer. This is a very welcome increase, but still only amounts to about one third of the volume of goods which were entering Gaza in the period before the blockade.

There has been a modest improvement in the availability of food and consumer goods. However, much of the recent increase has been goods which have simply displaced the more expensive goods previously brought in through the tunnel economy, which is now greatly reduced. Continued expansion of the volume of imports will be needed if there is to be significant improvement in the living conditions for ordinary Gazans.

Because goods entering Gaza remain subject to rigorous security checks, there are infrastructural bottlenecks which limit how quickly this volume can be increased. Israel has indicated steps it is taking to increase the capacity of the crossing points. This is clearly work in progress, which I shall be following closely. Additional capacity should be made available as soon as possible, to arrive quickly at a point where all of Gaza's needs can be routinely met.

There remain two serious areas of concern. First, while steel, cement and other construction materials are allowed into Gaza in greater quantities than before - but in a very closely controlled procedure, on the grounds that such materials could also be used for military purposes by Hamas or others - considerably greater flows are needed to repair the damage to infrastructure, housing and businesses. Greater effort should be made to facilitate UNRWA in its effort to build sufficient schools in which it teaches tolerance and respect for human rights. In the absence of such schools, parents have no option but to send their children to Hamas schools, built with smuggled materials, which teach a very different curriculum.

Secondly, there has been no provision yet for a resumption of exports from Gaza, or for the ordinary movement of persons. Without these, economic life cannot resume, and Gazans will remain in a state of permanent dependency and unemployment, the conditions in which militancy flourishes.

While I recognise the improvements that have taken place in Gaza, I want to see more done - and more quickly. All restrictions save those directly necessitated by security should be removed.

It is important to recognise that there are many human rights concerns in relation to Gaza apart from the blockade. Under the control of Hamas in the last three years, there has been growing concern about the increasing number and secrecy of executions, including of political opponents, of restrictions on freedom of expression, the media, and NGOs, and actions to restrict the freedom of women. None of these areas have shown any recent improvement; indeed, they seem to be worsening.

It is also appropriate to recall that militant groups in Gaza continue to aim missiles and mortars deliberately at civilian areas in Israel, although thankfully the volume is now significantly reduced. I reiterate my condemnation of such indiscriminate attacks and of those who perpetrate them. In addition, the Israeli soldier, Sgt Shalit, who was abducted while on duty in Israel, remains in captivity in Gaza, without being allowed visits even by the Red Cross. I again urge those holding Sgt. Shalit to release him.