from "Gaza: 1.5 million people trapped in despair," International Red Cross, June 2009
Six months after Israel launched its three-week military operation in Gaza, Gazans still cannot rebuild their lives. A new ICRC report shows that people are increasingly struggling to make ends meet and that seriously ill patients are not getting the treatment they need. The report also shows that thousands of Gazans whose homes and belongings were destroyed half a year ago remain without adequate shelter.
“Most people struggle to make ends meet. Seriously ill patients face great difficulty obtaining the treatment they need. Many children suffer from deep psychological problems. Civilians whose homes and belongings were destroyed during the conflict are unable to recover. The quantities of goods now entering Gaza fall well short of what is required to meet the population’s needs.”
Israel has tightened the noose round Gaza. In May 2009, the Israeli authorities allowed only 2,662 truckloads of goods—less than 90 a day—to enter Gaza from Israel, less than one quarter of the 11,392 truckloads allowed in during April 2008. At least 250 truckloads a day are needed just to provide the most basic humanitarian items.
Gaza only survives due to the goods smuggled in via the tunnels under the border with Egypt, which were one of the main targets of Israel’s aerial bombardment last January and which have been rapidly repaired. Smuggling through the tunnels is highly dangerous. Last year, 40 were killed in cave-ins.
Israel has allowed no reconstruction materials in since the end of its military operation in January. Not one penny of the $1.33 billion pledged for reconstruction last March at an international donors’ conference in Egypt—far short of the $2.4 billion that the UN estimated was needed—has reached Gaza. Repair work has yet to begin.
As the ICRC says, the neighbourhoods particularly affected by Israel’s bombardment “will continue to look like the epicentre of a massive earthquake unless vast quantities of cement, steel and other building materials are allowed into the territory for reconstruction.”
Many who lost their homes are living in cramped conditions with relatives, while thousands who have nowhere else to go are living in tents.
The military offensive destroyed electricity, water and sanitation services. There have been no supplies of new water pipes, electrical spare parts, pumps and transformers allowed into Gaza. While some emergency repairs have been carried out, the overall level is totally unsatisfactory. The infrastructure is overloaded and subject to constant breakdowns. Ninety percent of people suffer from power cuts while 10 percent have no power at all. Thirty-two thousand have no running water and more than 100,000 get water only once every two or three days.
Every single day, 69 million litres of partially treated or completely untreated sewage—equal to 28 Olympic size swimming pools—have to be pumped straight into the Mediterranean because there are no facilities to treat it. Even though chlorine is used to disinfect the water, there is a danger that sewage will seep into the water supply.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which looks after Palestinian refugees, says the rate of infectious diseases, including diarrhoea and viral hepatitis, which result from bad water and sanitation, has risen.
Gazans have little access to healthcare. The hospitals are run down, short of electricity, medication and prosthetics, and their equipment is unreliable. Some 100 to 150 people who lost limbs in the recent offensive are still waiting to be fitted with artificial limbs. (more)
Six months after Israel launched its three-week military operation in Gaza, Gazans still cannot rebuild their lives. A new ICRC report shows that people are increasingly struggling to make ends meet and that seriously ill patients are not getting the treatment they need. The report also shows that thousands of Gazans whose homes and belongings were destroyed half a year ago remain without adequate shelter.
“Most people struggle to make ends meet. Seriously ill patients face great difficulty obtaining the treatment they need. Many children suffer from deep psychological problems. Civilians whose homes and belongings were destroyed during the conflict are unable to recover. The quantities of goods now entering Gaza fall well short of what is required to meet the population’s needs.”
Israel has tightened the noose round Gaza. In May 2009, the Israeli authorities allowed only 2,662 truckloads of goods—less than 90 a day—to enter Gaza from Israel, less than one quarter of the 11,392 truckloads allowed in during April 2008. At least 250 truckloads a day are needed just to provide the most basic humanitarian items.
Gaza only survives due to the goods smuggled in via the tunnels under the border with Egypt, which were one of the main targets of Israel’s aerial bombardment last January and which have been rapidly repaired. Smuggling through the tunnels is highly dangerous. Last year, 40 were killed in cave-ins.
Israel has allowed no reconstruction materials in since the end of its military operation in January. Not one penny of the $1.33 billion pledged for reconstruction last March at an international donors’ conference in Egypt—far short of the $2.4 billion that the UN estimated was needed—has reached Gaza. Repair work has yet to begin.
As the ICRC says, the neighbourhoods particularly affected by Israel’s bombardment “will continue to look like the epicentre of a massive earthquake unless vast quantities of cement, steel and other building materials are allowed into the territory for reconstruction.”
Many who lost their homes are living in cramped conditions with relatives, while thousands who have nowhere else to go are living in tents.
The military offensive destroyed electricity, water and sanitation services. There have been no supplies of new water pipes, electrical spare parts, pumps and transformers allowed into Gaza. While some emergency repairs have been carried out, the overall level is totally unsatisfactory. The infrastructure is overloaded and subject to constant breakdowns. Ninety percent of people suffer from power cuts while 10 percent have no power at all. Thirty-two thousand have no running water and more than 100,000 get water only once every two or three days.
Every single day, 69 million litres of partially treated or completely untreated sewage—equal to 28 Olympic size swimming pools—have to be pumped straight into the Mediterranean because there are no facilities to treat it. Even though chlorine is used to disinfect the water, there is a danger that sewage will seep into the water supply.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which looks after Palestinian refugees, says the rate of infectious diseases, including diarrhoea and viral hepatitis, which result from bad water and sanitation, has risen.
Gazans have little access to healthcare. The hospitals are run down, short of electricity, medication and prosthetics, and their equipment is unreliable. Some 100 to 150 people who lost limbs in the recent offensive are still waiting to be fitted with artificial limbs. (more)
