A man-made humanitarian disaster
One year after the Zionist e
ntity’s savage assault on the besieged refugee population of the Gaza Strip, a group of 16 international human rights and aid groups released a report documenting the wretched conditions under which the people of Gaza are inexplicably left to suffer.
We hear much of this suffering, but all too often it’s just an afterthought in the heat of political discussion. And for those who have never gone through such conditions, it will be impossible to understand the comprehensive breadth of the restrictions placed upon every facet of daily life in Gaza.
I hardly ever read these reports in full, usually just perusing the conclusions, but reading the detailed facts and figures mentioned in this one (entitled ‘Failing Gaza: No rebuilding, no recovery, no more excuses‘) really drives home the extent of the oppression.
- Since the assault ended, leaving 15,000 buildings damages and 5,000 completely destroyed, only 41 trucks of contsruction materials have been allowed to enter Gaza
- Prior to 2007, and average of 70 truckloads of exports left Gaza everyday. For the past two years, that number has been zero.
- Only 35 categories of items are allowed into Gaza. That is, only 35 types of products are allowed in to the 1.5 million prisoners.
- The number of trucks carrying construction materials entering Gaza today is 0.05% of what it was before the blockade. That’s not half a percent-it’s one twentieth of one percent
- 84% of the damage inflicted during the assault was on housing, agriculture and the private sector, putting to bed any illusions that this war did not target the civilian population.
- The damage has left 600,000 tons of rubble strewn across Gaza
- 15,000 homes sustained enough damage displace 100,000 people
- 2,870 homes need major repair and 3,540 need complete rebuilding; in effect, Israel destroyed 291 homes per day during the war
- 52,900 homes sustained minor damages
- 20,000 people remain displaced-some of whom are living in tents in the shadow of the remains of their destroyed homes
- During the war Israel destroyed 700 private businesses
- Prior to the war, the siege had led to 98% of Gaza’s industrial operations becoming idle
- Joblessness in Gaza has now reached 40%
- 120,000 private sector jobs have been lost since the blockade was imposed
- Six months before the war, 70% of Gazan families were surviving on less than one dollar a day
- 17% of Gaza’s farmland was destroyed by Israeli tanks and military vehicles during the war. Four months later Israel announced that it would expand its buffer zone into Gaza even further. Together with the damaged land, the buffer zone has put 46% of Gaza’s agricultural land out of production
- Over 30 kilometers of water networks were damaged or destroyed during the war; 9 kilometers remain damaged
- During the war Israel damaged or destroyed 15 hospitals and 41 primary health clinics
- Israel destroyed 18 schools during the war, and damaged 280 more
- 230 schoolchildren were killed by Israel during the war
It’s not just the numbers that are disturbing-one year after the war, the siege is getting tighter. As we mourn the first anniversary of one of the most savage military assaults on a captive population in recent history, Egypt is building a underground barrier made of an iron wall and sea water to prevent the besieged, brutalized and traumatized prisoners of the Gaza Strip from smuggling in what little they can to help themselves.
