Israel’s plan to prevent Gaza malnutrition

Published on 18/10/2012 00:00

Israel calculated the number of calories Palestinians would need to avoid malnutrition under its blockade of the Gaza Strip, 
according to a study which the Supreme Court forced the 
government to release.

“It was part of a research paper that came up in two 
discussions and that we never made use of,” Defence Ministry official Guy Inbar said yesterday after the document was 
published by Gisha, an Israeli human rights group.

Release of the 2008 document shed new light on the thinking that helped to shape the blockade that Israel tightened from 2007 until mid-2010, after the Gaza Strip was seized by Hamas. The study, Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip – The Red Lines, estimated the required daily calorie intake in the territory at 2,279 per person.

The document said “in order to maintain the basic fabric of life” Israel would allow in 106 trucks with food every day. 
Britain’s National Health Service estimates the average man needs 2,500 calories to maintain his weight and a woman 2,000.