3/21/2024 0 Comments Money network dgIn the wake of the blockade, trade stalled, jobs disappeared, and more and more families fell into poverty, while the population in Gaza grew by nearly 60%, according to an analysis of Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics data. The UN said in a 2022 report that the restrictions have had a “profound impact” on daily living conditions in Gaza and “undermined Gaza’s economy, resulting in high unemployment, food insecurity and aid dependency.” This makes reconstruction difficult, Wildangel said. “Lots of everyday goods and especially building materials could not enter the Gaza Strip because they are on the so-called ‘dual-use material’ list,” said René Wildangel, an adjunct fellow at the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and a former human rights expert for the Middle East at Amnesty International. Israel then instituted an ongoing blockade, severely limiting the movement of people and goods by land, sea or air, which it argues is essential to prevent Hamas from arming itself. Restrictions extend to goods the Israelis consider as having a dual civilian and military use, such as concrete, agricultural fertilizer compounds and some medical equipment. Within months, Israel’s security cabinet would designate Gaza as “hostile territory.” In 2007, Hamas militants seized control of Gaza from forces loyal to the PA. “From mid-1990s to early 2000s, Palestine is in this state-building project and a lot of (development) aid goes towards that,” said Yara Asi, an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida who studies Palestinian health and human rights. “In the early 2000s, you start seeing disillusionment - the promises of Oslo did not come to fruition.” There has been no pause in fighting since a seven-day span at the end of November which was negotiated as part of an Israel-Hamas hostage release deal.Ī Palestinian boy looks from the window, just above the pockmarked wall, following overnight clashes between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza in May 2007. On December 22, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for further extended humanitarian pauses to allow more aid into Gaza. The IDF has begun pulling its soldiers out of Gaza, but has said it expects fighting to continue throughout 2024. Meanwhile, the UN agency which provides services to more than half of Gaza’s civilians is on the verge of collapse, its leader said in a letter to the President of the UN General Assembly on December 7. As of January 12, more than 150 staff members have been killed - more than in any other conflict - and at least 70% of the remaining staff are displaced, according to the UNRWA. Displaced Palestinians, many of whom left their homes with little or nothing, say they are struggling to stay dry and warm as winter temperatures and rains set in. Many are sheltering in tents or overcrowded accommodations in Rafah in southern Gaza, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told people to flee both northern Gaza and Khan Younis in the south. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) is reporting that nearly 80% of Gaza’s civilian population of roughly 2.2 million has been displaced since Israel launched its military operation in response to Hamas’ assault on October 7, when militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 200 others hostage, according to Israeli authorities. The spread of diseases, including hepatitis, diarrhea and respiratory infections, is putting more lives at risk, according to the World Health Organization. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed food security agency, reported on December 21 that “virtually all households are skipping meals every day” in Gaza. Aid organizations say that nearly the entire population of the Gaza Strip faces a humanitarian crisis.
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