Amidst Faltering Political Process, Humanitarian Situation in Gaza Continues to Deteriorate

by Nida Jafrani

Low expectations and skepticism on the part of both Israel and the Palestinians surround the beginning of indirect negotiations mediated by U.S. special envoy George Mitchell. Amidst a halting political process, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip is deteriorating and U.N., European, and U.S. officials continue to call for an end or easing of the 1000-day-old Israeli blockade.

John Holmes, the U.N. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, said the people of Gaza are suffering from a high unemployment rate, food shortages, and poverty. Private sector jobs are virtually nonexistent, so “even though there are plenty of goods available in Gaza…the problem is of course that most people have no money. Eighty percent of the people in Gaza are essentially dependent on outside food aid, either from UNWRA or the World Food Program.”

A January 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) report reviewed the health situation in Gaza since the December 27, 2008 – January 19, 2009 Israeli military offensive, saying that “recent events have resulted in a severe deterioration of the already precarious living conditions of the people in Gaza and have further eroded a weakened health system.” The report cited delays in border-crossing permits for specialized hospital treatment, shortage of medical supplies, improperly trained medical staff as a result of the isolation, and damage to health services infrastructure as the main causes of the precarious health situation.

After an early March visit to the Gaza Strip, Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin described the Gazan economy as devastated and “only operating at some 10-15 percent of capacity.” Over a thousand companies have gone out of business since the Israeli Army’s Operation Cast Lead in early 2009, and unemployment has risen to over fifty percent.  

Due to the dearth of jobs in Gaza, some citizens have created illicit methods of generating income. Fishing, which once constituted 4% of Gaza’s economy, has been negatively impacted by the blockade. If fishermen go more than 3.5 miles from the shore, they risk coming under fire from Israeli gunboats. For this reason, the small permitted zone has become overfished and fishermen have begun to make the dangerous and illegal trek to Egyptian waters.

Some of the poorest of Gaza’s residents have begun to make a meager living by sifting through the debris of Operation Cast Lead in the northern areas of the Strip. They separate small pebbles and gravel for construction and paving roads, backbreaking labor that makes them around eight dollars a day.  

On February 26, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that she had discussed her “concerns” about Gaza with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and that she hoped to see progress there. The situation in Gaza has not yet been addressed in the current meetings that U.S. officials are having with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Flickr photo by Zoriah used under a Creative Commons license