GAZA APPEAL AVOIDS POLEMICS, STRESSES NEED FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L GENEVA 000097 E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2019 TAGS: PREF PREL EAID KPAL IS SUBJECT: GAZA APPEAL AVOIDS POLEMICS, STRESSES NEED FOR OPEN BORDERS Classified By: Mark C. Storella, Charge d'Affaires a.i., reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary: The February 2 launch of the UN's Flash Appeal for Gaza remained focused on humanitarian issues and largely avoided sensitive political issues. Most of the language from an early draft of the appeal that had raised concerns about inserting political issues into humanitarian coordination had been either removed or edited by the UN before the meeting and the GOI rep there had instructions not to intervene so as not to further politicize matters. There was a drumbeat of calls by both the UN speakers and donors for opening the Gaza borders to allow both humanitarian and other items into Gaza to facilitate not only humanitarian relief, but economic recovery and reconstruction as well. Meeting Chair UN U/SYG John Holmes read a carefully worded statement on the need to separate humanitarian relief from political considerations, leading the UN to engage all parties in Gaza to ensure that there is no political interference or diversion of assistance. The US intervention was warmly welcomed by Holmes and other UN officials. End summary. -------------- Political Language in a Humanitarian Appeal -------------- ¶2. (C) The initial draft of the Flash Appeal included a number of elements that seemed to be political in nature and exceeding the mandate of its author, the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),which is tasked to coordinate and prioritize humanitarian programs across UN agencies and help raise funds for them. Examples were a proposed project to investigate violations of International Humanitarian Law during the Gaza conflict, and speculative language about the intentions of a post-election government in Israel. US Mission Geneva raised concerns with OCHA Geneva and we understand that Israeli PermRep Yaar worked directly with UN SYG Ban Ki Moon's staff to request changes to the text. In the end, most of the language of concern was excised from the final version of the appeal. One reference to the use of white phosphorous remained, though it was rewritten to sound less definitive, mentioning "shelling, reported by UNRWA to include white phosphorous shells." We spoke with Walid Abu-Haya, who was the Israeli Mission's sole representative at the meeting. He reported that the GOI was pleased overall with the changes in the text. He noted that the white phosphorous language was better but not gone. He had been instructed not to make an intervention at the meeting, however, so as not to politicize matters further. ¶3. (U) U/SYG John Holmes chaired the meeting and set the tone by putting a great stress on the need for free movement across border crossings for both humanitarian relief and normal economic life. This plea for opening the borders was echoed by all other invited speakers, as well as nearly every country intervention. Other speakers were Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Fathi Abu Moghli, UNRWA Commissioner General Karen Abu Zayd, UN Dep. Special Coordinator for the OT Maxwell Gaylard and Islamic Relief Worldwide Executive Director Saleh Saeed. ¶4. (U) Holmes read a carefully worded statement that seemed to indicate that the UN would deal with the de-facto authorities in Gaza, at least to ensure proper delivery of humanitarian assistance. He said, "The second condition is that meeting immediate needs should be kept separate from political considerations. The United Nations will engage all parties in Gaza, including the Palestinian Authority, Israel and those in control on the ground, to try to ensure that there is no political interference in the movement or distribution of humanitarian assistance, and no diversion of it. We are, for example, exploring ways to strengthen audit and control over the delivery of aid to ensure that it reaches the intended beneficiaries." -------------- Country Interventions -------------- ¶5. (U) While a number of Arab countries intervened in the session, only Algeria was openly political in its rhetoric, refering to barbaric acts, wounding, maiming, stunting, etc. Egypt stuck to outlining its role in both the political and humanitarian efforts. Algeria and Qatar both referred to pledges they had made at the recent Doha summit on Gaza reconstruction. Algeria said it had pledged $200 million, while Qatar had pledged $250 million. U/SYG Holmes called on both of those countries to make at least some of that money available to immediate humanitarian needs as well. Interestingly, during the remarks by Islamic Relief's Saeed, he noted that Islamic countries were considering the creation of an independent body to oversee their contributions, in order to avoid mismanagement or politicizing of assistance. He gave no further explanation and no other countries made reference to this. ¶6. (U) The Charge expressed US concerns over the loss of life and suffering in the Gaza conflict and stressed the need for a robust international response to the appeal. He underscored the US commitment to a two-state solution and called for both a durable ceasefire and expanded and sustained opening of border crossings. Welcoming the statement by the Palestinian Minister of Health, the Charge said that the Palestinian Authority should remain front and center as we move forward with assistance to Gaza. Finally, he outlined US assistance to Gaza, both through our regular contributions to UNRWA, as well as the additional $20.3 million in ERMA funds announced by Special Envoy Mitchell last week. In response, Holmes called the US statement "positive and constructive." Following the session, Gaylard approached the US delegation to say that the intervention had been "right on the mark." STORELLA