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Inside Gaza: blockade has brought the enclaves economy to its kneesJune 2, 2010
There is no shortage of food in Gazas markets: Israel allows basic humanitarian goods through its tightly controlled crossings and smugglers on the Egyptian border bring in anything from cars to fridges and toasters.
The problem is that the three-year blockade, and the devastating Israel offensive 18 months ago, have destroyed the enclaves economy, creating mass unemployment while pushing up prices, so that ordinary Gazans can hardly afford to shop. War and blockade have also laid waste to Gazas infrastructure, because Israel bans all imports of cement and metal, which it says could be used by Hamas to build defensive structures. That is why the flotilla seized by Israel was bringing 5,000 tonnes of cement and iron, to rebuild thousands of homes, as well as hundreds of electric wheelchairs for Gazans wounded in Israels December 2008 offensive, which killed about 1,300 people and destroyed most of its still-functioning factories.
All of Gazas businesses have gone bust, except for a few entrepreneurs who recycle rubble as breeze blocks that are so weak they can only be used to patch up damaged buildings. Some people have resorted to building homes out of mud. The only people with money are government employees or those who work for the United Nations or aid groups. The ships were also bringing scarce spare parts for medical equipment, such as monitors for CT scanners and dialysis machines.
The UN supplies basic necessities to three quarters of a million people, with handouts such as rice and cooking oil. Procuring anything else comes at a steep price, as anything not on Israels ever-changing list of proscribed goods has to be dragged through smuggling tunnels.
Basic medicines are available through the Health Ministry but more advanced medicines that would normally be bought in the private sector are hard to come by. Many pharmacies have been driven out of business by aid agencies. Everything from windscreen wiper motors to camera parts have to be ordered from smugglers and brought from Egypt, whose police take a cut, further pushing up prices in an enclave where unemployment is estimated to run at 50 per cent.
Inside Gaza: blockade has brought the enclave’s economy to its knees - Times Online
There is no shortage of food in Gazas markets: Israel allows basic humanitarian goods through its tightly controlled crossings and smugglers on the Egyptian border bring in anything from cars to fridges and toasters.
The problem is that the three-year blockade, and the devastating Israel offensive 18 months ago, have destroyed the enclaves economy, creating mass unemployment while pushing up prices, so that ordinary Gazans can hardly afford to shop. War and blockade have also laid waste to Gazas infrastructure, because Israel bans all imports of cement and metal, which it says could be used by Hamas to build defensive structures. That is why the flotilla seized by Israel was bringing 5,000 tonnes of cement and iron, to rebuild thousands of homes, as well as hundreds of electric wheelchairs for Gazans wounded in Israels December 2008 offensive, which killed about 1,300 people and destroyed most of its still-functioning factories.
All of Gazas businesses have gone bust, except for a few entrepreneurs who recycle rubble as breeze blocks that are so weak they can only be used to patch up damaged buildings. Some people have resorted to building homes out of mud. The only people with money are government employees or those who work for the United Nations or aid groups. The ships were also bringing scarce spare parts for medical equipment, such as monitors for CT scanners and dialysis machines.
The UN supplies basic necessities to three quarters of a million people, with handouts such as rice and cooking oil. Procuring anything else comes at a steep price, as anything not on Israels ever-changing list of proscribed goods has to be dragged through smuggling tunnels.
Basic medicines are available through the Health Ministry but more advanced medicines that would normally be bought in the private sector are hard to come by. Many pharmacies have been driven out of business by aid agencies. Everything from windscreen wiper motors to camera parts have to be ordered from smugglers and brought from Egypt, whose police take a cut, further pushing up prices in an enclave where unemployment is estimated to run at 50 per cent.
Inside Gaza: blockade has brought the enclave’s economy to its knees - Times Online
