Quarterly Updates for (16 Aug 2012 — 15 Nov 2012)

On 8/27, the UN published a significant report, the headline of which claimed that the Gaza Strip would no longer be "liveable" by 2020 (see Doc. A1 in JPS 166) unless urgent action were taken to improve basic infrastructure like water, power, health, and schooling. Upon its release, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Maxwell Gaylard called for the end of the blockade and isolation of the territory. On 10/14, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry expressed alarm at attacks perpetrated by Jewish settlers against Palestinian farmers and farmland in the West Bank, citing reports of hundreds of destroyed olive trees during harvest season. Earlier in the quarter, Serry had warned (8/20) that the PA was losing legitimacy due to its inability to achieve political goals.