March 2, 2017. Gisha spokesperson, Shai Grunberg, appeared on “London et Kirshenbaum” on Israeli television Channel 10, and spoke about the results of a public opinion poll Gisha had conducted among the Israeli public..
“There were a number of results in this poll that surprised us” Grunberg said, “for instance, that 76% of the public understands how deep Israel’s control of Gaza goes. They understand Israel controls access to Gaza, all land crossings with the exception of Rafah, and the sea and air space. More than half the public also understands this control comes with responsibility for the civilian and economic state of Gaza’s residents”..
Grunberg also addressed the State Comptroller’s report regarding Operation Protective Edge in 2014, which was published in late February. “The Comptroller also noted that the main defect is that there was never a discussion about finding a solution. We keep going back to a military dialogue, repeated rounds of fighting, and this is not a situation anyone wants to return to, certainly not Gaza’s residents. What’s needed is a different solution”..
Salah Mohsen, Gisha’s research department director, was interviewed for Israeli public radio program Haboker Hazeh, and spoke about the dire state of Gaza’s infrastructure and the tightening of the closure in recent months..
“There is a developed private sector in Gaza, and a developed civil society sector”, said Mohsen, adding: “We spoke with the (Palestinian) committee that coordinates the entrance of goods, and they’re saying that the situation now is the worst it has been since 2010. Hundreds of companies and hundreds of merchants are prevented from traveling, hundreds of types of goods are prevented from entering. It’s not possible to talk about reconstruction in these circumstances”..