UN Warns: Gaza Set to Become Uninhabitable

Local Editor

"Almost all of the population" is destitute in the Gaza Strip. Wars and economic blockades have all but destroyed its entire economy, a UN conference has warned. If the trend continues, the territory may become "unlivable" in five years.

The report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD] said that the "Israeli" war in the Gaza Strip last year drove the country deep into recession and this time recovery may fail to come.

The report stated that Gaza's GDP dropped 15 percent in 2014, 72 percent of households suffered from food insecurity and unemployment stood at a record high of 44 percent.

"The prospects for 2015 are bleak, due to volatile political conditions, reduced aid flows, the slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza and lingering effects of "Israel's" withholding of Palestinian clearance revenue during the first four months of 2015," the report indicated.

Furthermore, the report stressed the impact of Zionist forces' operations in the Gaza Strip, noting three major conflicts in six years, in addition to eight years of economic blockade.

The UN said that 500,000 people had been displaced in Gaza as a result of last year's "Israeli" forces' operation alone. More than 20,000 Palestinian homes were destroyed, and 148 schools and 15 hospitals and 45 primary health-care centers were severely damaged.

The UN pointed to slow reconstruction efforts hindering the recovery of the local economy, while socioeconomic conditions are at their lowest point since 1967.

The report also noted that the number of Zionist settlers had quadrupled since the Oslo Accords. Aid donors were being diverted from Palestine as the Zionist entity continued to impose a blockade, at the same time as carrying out special military operations against supposed militants.

"No amount of aid would have been sufficient to put any economy on a path of sustainable development under conditions of frequent military strikes and destruction of infrastructure, isolation from global markets, fragmentation of domestic markets and confiscation and denial of access to national natural resources," the reports said.

At least 247 factories and 300 commercial centers were fully or partially destroyed by "Israel", while the agricultural sector alone suffered $550 million in losses, according to the report.

"The social, health and security-related ramifications of the high population density and overcrowding are among the factors that may render Gaza unlivable by 2020," the report concluded.

The entity had been maintaining a blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007, on the grounds that it helped prevent arms from being delivered to the Hamas movement. However, critics, including human rights groups, argue that "Israel" is deliberately hurting the Palestinian population by not allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and preventing any kind of sea trade.

Last July, "Israel" launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge." It claimed the lives of some 2,251 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the UN.

Consequently, the 50-day war destroyed or severely damaged some 20,000 homes. Rebuilding has been stalled by border restrictions and political tensions.

According to a July report by Save the Children, over 550 children were killed during "Israel's" offensive, 3,436 were injured and an estimated 1,500 lost their parents. Around 100,000 people in Gaza are still homeless.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team