JERUSALEM, February 28, 2009 (WAFA)- International donors to Gaza's reconstruction and development should call on Israel to end its punishing blockade of the territory and to allow needed humanitarian assistance and normal commerce to resume, Human Rights Watch said today.

Even after the enormous damage to civilian life in Gaza, caused by the Israeli offensive on the strip, Israel continues to block desperately needed aid from entering and to strangle Gaza's economy.

Human Rights Watch stated that ending the blockade was absolutely critical to any prospects for reconstruction and economic recovery.

'All the pledges of aid this conference is expected to produce will be worth next to nothing if the donors do not demand that Israel open the borders to commercial goods as well as humanitarian essentials,' said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. 'This unlawful blockade is the primary impediment to reconstruction and to the economic activity that is essential to any society.'

Aid workers with operations in Gaza told Human Rights Watch that Israeli procedures were making it virtually impossible to plan for aid deliveries more than 24 hours in advance. On several occasions Israeli authorities refused to allow passage of pre-scheduled aid shipments hours before they were supposed to arrive, they said.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimates that the fighting in December and January damaged or destroyed 14,000 homes, 219 factories, 240 schools, and 31 nongovernmental organizations. Gaza's electricity generator sustained $10 million in damage, and the water utility $6 million.