Geneva/Jerusalem (ICRC) - Six months after the end
of Israel's military operation in Gaza, the people living there find themselves unable to rebuild their lives and are sliding ever deeper into despair, the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) said today.
A new ICRC report on the situation in Gaza 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.
The report
identifies the stringent restrictions on movements of persons and goods into and out of Gaza over the two past years as one of the main causes of the crisis in the territory, and argues that almost
4.5 billion dollars pledged for reconstruction by donor countries will be of little use as long as building materials and other essential items cannot be imported into the Gaza Strip.
It
shows that essential water and sanitation infrastructure remain largely insufficient: every day the equivalent of 28 Olympic-size swimming pools of sewage is pumped directly and more or less untreated
into the Mediterranean.
Hospitals are struggling because complex and lengthy Israeli import procedures slow down the delivery of basic medical necessities such as painkillers and X-ray film
developer.
The closure imposed on Gaza has resulted in soaring unemployment and economic collapse.
"The poorest residents in particular have exhausted their coping mechanisms and
often have to sell off their belongings to be able to buy enough to eat," pointed out Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC's sub-delegation in the territory.
"The declining living standards will
have a negative effect on the health and well-being of the population in the long term.
Worst affected are the children, who make up more than half of Gaza's population." In the report, the
ICRC demands that the restrictions on the movement of people and goods be lifted.
"Israel has the right to protect its population against attacks," said Grand.
"But does that
mean that 1.5 million people in Gaza do not have the right to live a normal life?" Urgent measures mentioned in the report include easing imports of medical equipment, allowing the entry of building
materials such as cement and steel, lifting restrictions on exports from Gaza, reopening terminals to improve the flow of people and goods into and out of the territory, allowing farmers access to
their land in the buffer zone, and restoring safe access to deeper waters for fishermen.
The ICRC report concludes that humanitarian action can be no substitute for the credible political
steps that are needed to bring about the changes the population of Gaza needs.
The International Committee calls on the States, political authorities and organized armed groups oncerned to
do what is needed to reopen the Gaza Strip and safeguard the life and dignity of its civilian population.
Children sit between men praying on the streets of Karachi, during a anti-American demonstration by members of the Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami June 28, 2009. Thousands of supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami crowded ...
