Gaza Continues to Suffer from a Severe Human Dignity Crisis

Children in Al-Bureij refugee camp,food distributed by UNRWA,Gaza City June 2008

Photo Fady Adwan PalestineFreeVoice Images

By Hiyam Noir

July 24 2010 - 9:28 PM

During the last decade, the socio-economic situation for ordinary Palestinians in Gaza has been in steady decline. Decades of occupation, conflict and an almost 4 year of a still ongoing blockade have left the vast majority of the population in Gaza in need of international assistance.

However,the most vulnerable are the Palestinians whom still are living their lives in refuge camps.Gaza is home to more than one million registered refugees, of which almost 50 percent are living in one of the eight refugee camps in Gaza.

The entire Gaza community continues to experience a rising level of unemployment, food insecurity and poverty.

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The Humanitarian Monitor of OCHA ( The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) in the oPt report in the last week of May that; Palestinian casualties have decreased with an increasing trend in Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.Throughout the occupied territories access to education has been undermined for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian students by a widespread classroom shortages.And the Jerusalem municipality is planning to approve a plan that would displace some 500 Palestinian residents.

After more than three years of blockade, Gaza continues to suffer from a severe human dignity crisis characterized by high food insecurity rates, high dependency on foreign aid, a locked in civilian population, and de-development. The treatment of patients suffering from bleeding disorders, certain types of cancers, kidney failure, and some infant allergies, is expected to be severely affected by a depletion of essential drugs to the lowest levels seen since June 2007.

Livelihoods and lives of people living in the Gaza Strip have been devastated by over 1000 days of near complete blockade. However, with the investment of simple inputs and increased access to land, the Agriculture Sector has the potential to make substantial improvements to the quality of life, food security and nutrition of an estimated 1.5 million Palestinian people.

The announced decision to ease the three-year blockade of Gaza, would have allowed the unrestricted import of goods intended for civilian use, thus still the Zionist entity restrict more than 100 items.The health care sector in Gaza continue to deteriorate.15 Palestinians have been killed, and 104 injured. The livelihoods of farmers are threatened by the new pest, Tuta Absoluta, which is causing great damage to tomato crops.

John Holmes,the Coordinator of the USG for Humanitarian Affairs and the Emergency Relief said in a statement regarding Israel's,i.e the Zionist Entities attack on the Free Gaza Flotilla, that the ERC strongly condemn the dreadful waste of life over a humanitarian issue. Holmes said that such an incident should never have happened.

The ERC stated that from the very beginning of 2007,the blockade of Gaza has been unacceptable, unnecessary and counterproductive.It has worsened the life conditions for the Palestinians,deepened the poverty and created food insecurity.The blockade have prevented reconstruction and increased aid dependence by destroying the livelihood and economic activity.The ERC called for lifting the collective punishment of the people of Gaza - once and for all.

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