In June 2007, Israeli occupation brought the entire Gaza Strip under a land, aerial, and naval blockade that worsened over the years, turning the enclave into an open-air prison.
About 2.1 million Palestinians have been subjected to numerous closures during the past two decades, including restrictions on imports of fuel and other goods, essential medical equipment, and the movement of people and patients out of and into Gaza across the ‘Eriz’ border, according to a UN report.
The suffocation policy imposed by the Israeli occupation plunged Gaza into unemployment, poverty, food insecurity and the erosion of the productive base due to heavy economic losses as the weak contribution of the industrial sector did not exceed an average of 10.7% while the agricultural sector’s contribution did not exceed an average of 11.4% throughout the years of siege according to Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations.
In the same vein, Israeli occupation authorities approved only 64 percent of patients’ requests to exit Gaza for treatment in the occupied West Bank, so far in 2022, according to OCHA
As a result of the Israeli deadly blockade, unemployment levels in Gaza are among the highest in the world as the jobless rate in 2022 was 46.6%, compared with an average of 34.8% in 2006.
Gaza Power Plant can only meet about 50 percent of the electricity demand in Gaza as it produces up to 80 megawatts (MW), supplemented by 120 MW purchased from the Israeli regimes, according to a UN report
In this regard, Human Rights Watch HRW described the Israeli siege on Gaza as part of its “crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution”, concluding that ‘Israel’ should end the generalized ban on travel to and from Gaza, and allow freedom of movement subject to Palestinians in Gaza.
Despite its disengagement from Gaza in 2005, ‘Israel’ is still an occupying power as it controls entry and exit from Gaza and places Palestinians under a suffocating blockade, which constitutes a form of collective punishment in a flagrant violation of international law rather than undertaking its duty in protecting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The ongoing blockade, which includes severe restrictions not only on the movement of people but of goods, amounts to unlawful collective punishment under international law.
It has created a humanitarian crisis for the nearly two million Palestinians living in the area.
Israeli authorities rejected 36% of patients’ requests to exit Gaza
78% of piped water in Gaza is unfit for human consumption
Rolling power cuts averaged 11 hours per day, as it continues
Fishermen have access to only 50% of the fishing waters
Jobless rate is rising to more than 46.6%
31% of households have difficulties meeting essential education needs
62% of families in Gaza require food assistance
Gaza’s agricultural share is usually near the borderline that is facing daily Israeli violations like spreading harmful chemical materials.
80% of citizens in the Gaza Strip depend on aids
The poverty rate in Gaza is rising to 61.6%
66% of the Palestinians in Gaza are refugees
The Palestinians in Gaza witnessed major Israeli attacks in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2022, and 2023, which resulted in the demolishing thousands of civilian houses.
The blockade is the latest chapter in decades of violence and hardship endured by Palestinians.
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