This time last year, Israel was fighting a bloody conflict in Gaza with the people’s’ army of Hamas. Around 2,200 lost their lives, primarily on the Palestinian side. While Israel’s economy took a blow, those on the West Bank were left relatively untouched.

We have been reminded of these sad events in the past few days. As memorial services have been held in Israel, international journalists like Jon Snow from the UK flocked back to Gaza to report what has – or has not – been repaired. And a small flotilla tried to beat Israel’s naval surveillance of Gaza, although it was stopped before reaching its destination. (It was later reported that the only provisions for Gaza was a small box of medical supplies that would have been cheaper and simpler to send by express mail!).

So how can the Palestinians be helped? Compared to a decade ago, the number of roadblocks in the West Bank are minimal. While Israel has left Gaza, those who thought that life would be better, the “disengagement has backfired badly.”

And last week, we witnessed the most absurd report. Palestinian workers are going to the courts of the Palestinian Authority in order to secure the same fair treatment that they would have received under Israeli labour law.

Help from elsewhere? With some ironic timing, I was handed a pamphlet, prepared by UNSCO on behalf of UNCT in June 2013. Entitled “The United Nations in Palestine”, it details 25 – I repeat twenty five – UN based organisations that are involved in supporting Palestinians in an on-going manner. ILO/ OCHA / UNDSS / UNFPA / UNROD etc, etc. And remember, most of this is paid for by the generosity of Western tax payers.

Their combined budget for the Palestinian issue alone? I have no idea. However, as I have often cited, UNRWA’s annual finances alone stretch to over one billion dollars. As politicians and diplomats close their eyes, there are no independent audits to verify transparency and accountability of this monolith.

From the Israeli side, there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Speak to soldiers in COGAT and you will be informed that even if the economy is fragile, the residents of Gaza are not starving. In fact, Israel has ensured that the volume of goods entering Gaza has doubled in 2015. Who receives them and on what basis? Well, that is a different question. I suppose much can be said about the resources dripping down the various UN groupings.

On a highly pertinent side note, what also emerged this week is that there are around 18,000 civilians, mainly Palestinians from Syria, who are trapped in a pathetic refugee camp near Yarmouk. About 3,500 are children. International rescue efforts are simply not on the horizon. Yet the UN did release its report on the 2014 war, which heavily criticized Israel’s use of force in defending itself. There seems to be a disproportion here.

What is truly sad for me is that the main Palestinian crisis is one that has been cutting through the Middle East for decades and remains unresolved. There has never been a leadership that has placed nation-building above its hatred of Israel……and its parallel desire for the good life. And that is the key lesson we can take away, a year after that wasteful and tragic war in Gaza.