What good is the Egypt fundraiser if "Israel" continues aggressions and seige?

Palestinian hope of raising enough money for the reconstruction of Gaza at a fundraiser event in Egypt is likely to hit a snag, aid agencies say.

While international donors gather in Egypt on Monday to raise fund for the reconstruction of the war-snarled Gaza Strip, humanitarian organizations believe that unless ‘Israel' lifts the blockade, much of the USD 2.8 billion that Palestinians hope to raise will suffice only for humanitarian needs.

Representatives from some 70 countries and international organizations have convened in Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh sea resort, to pledge billions of postwar donations.

"At the moment we are not getting in anywhere near the amount of aid that we need," said Juliette Seibold, policy and advocacy adviser for CARE International.

More than six weeks after a ceasefire was announced, much of the Gaza Strip remains in ruins with practically no breakthrough in the reconstruction of the Palestinians territory that was recently subjected to a devastating ‘Israeli' three-week-long offensive.

Relief workers believe that the main issue in Gaza is not financial saying that as long as Tel Aviv is continuing to block raw materials and other essential needs, the reconstruction cannot begin in earnest.

"The fundamental problem is that ‘Israel' will not allow adequate flows of materials or people into Gaza ... we are talking about very simple things" said Oxfam spokesman Michael Bailey

"Since the war there has been no pasta, no lentils and no fruit juice allowed into Gaza. There is no way in anybody's imagination that these are dual use items," he added.

Gaza has been under a crippling blockade since June 2007 - a year and a half before the ‘Israeli' offensive which began on December 27.

The ‘Israeli' government has been blocking the blocking the entry of everything from clothing and shoes to key construction materials like steel, cement and glass, under the pretext that they might have a military use for the Hamas government.

Nevertheless, the siege has remained in place even after the war stopped, ‘Israel' has kept the stranglehold on Gaza's border crossings. With no reliable source of cement or steel, all the money in the world cannot rebuild the strip.

According to the figures recently obtained from the International Committee for the Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the full-scale offensive completely wiped out nearly 3,000 homes, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.