After Gaza War, Daunting Curbs On Rebuilding

Political Battles, Israeli Ban on Construction Goods Delay Recovery

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip -- Mohammed Irhaiem's former home was a spacious 1,500 square feet and was built from solid concrete blocks. It had views of the Mediterranean and fruit trees in the yard.

His new home, which he surveyed for the first time this week, measures 12 by 6 feet and is made of sheets of canvas held aloft by three wooden poles. His is one of 90 bright white tents that have sprouted in neat rows amid a sea of gray rubble, the wreckage from homes -- including Irhaiem's -- that were destroyed during the 22-day Gaza war between Israel and Hamas.

"It's humiliating," said Irhaiem, 49, clutching the hand of his barefoot young grandson as he contemplated life for himself and 24 relatives in the tent colony.

But it will have to do: Three weeks after the war's end, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip has scarcely started, caught in a web of political battles that aid workers worry could prevent the work from ever getting done.

The most daunting obstacle is the lack of construction supplies, which are badly needed to rebuild the approximately 4,000 homes that were destroyed in the fighting and repair an additional 17,000 that were damaged. The United Nations estimates that as many as 100,000 people were rendered homeless by the war.

But Israel has banned raw materials from entering Gaza, reasoning that goods such as cement and steel could be used by Hamas to build bunkers or manufacture rockets.

Beyond the security concerns, Israeli officials say they are determined not to let Hamas gain politically by overseeing the reconstruction.

Hamas, meanwhile, appears just as determined to turn the reconstruction to its advantage. The group, which has controlled Gaza for the past year and a half, has insisted that it be allowed to coordinate all rebuilding work. It has also made clear that its chief Palestinian rival, the moderate Fatah party, will not be welcome during the recovery, despite Israeli and U.S. wishes that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah member, be given a lead role.

Last week, Hamas police seized 3,500 blankets and 400 food packages from a U.N.-affiliated warehouse because Hamas said the goods were being distributed in Abbas's name. The United Nations denied the charge and suspended aid shipments Friday in protest after Hamas allegedly confiscated additional aid supplies from 10 trucks.

Hamas has distributed its own aid to those affected by the war, giving thousands of dollars to each family that lost a home or a loved one. But with no building materials, it has been unable to launch the sort of large-scale reconstruction effort that the Lebanese militia Hezbollah undertook after its 2006 war with Israel.

The battles over reconstruction -- between Israel and Hamas and between Hamas and Fatah -- underscore the degree to which everything in Gaza, humanitarian efforts included, has become politicized.

Hamas has controlled Gaza since June 2007, when it routed Fatah loyalists. Gaza, a narrow coastal territory that is home to 1.5 million Palestinians, has been kept under a tight Israeli embargo ever since, decimating the economy.