Posted By Karima Saifullah

January 22, 2008

The intensified economic embargo on Gaza - imposed after Hamas took over the strip in June - deepened the humanitarian crisis in an improvised territory where 1.5 million people live.

The main goods crossing into Gaza has been closed and only humanitarian aid has been allowed into the strip since then.

But last week, Israel closed all the border crossings into Gaza, claiming that the harsh decision was in response to the rocket fire from Gaza onto neighbouring Israeli towns and villages.

The Israeli blockade, condemned by the Palestinians as “collective punishment”, have disastrous consequences and threaten to harm the peace process.

On Sunday, Gaza's main power plant shut down because of a lack of fuel supplies, plunging much of Gaza City into darkness. Although the power plant provides only 30 percent of the territory's electricity, its closure affected a far greater proportion of the population because of the way the power grid system works.

Gaza hospitals are reporting a lack of drugs and parts for medical equipment. They will also run out of fuel for generators within a few days.

Khaled Radi, spokesman of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Reuters that many of the facilities were performing only emergency surgery.

Michele Mercier, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, also said that the stocks of Gaza hospitals "won't last for more than two or three days."

"If no more stocks are available, you can imagine what it means for the treatment of wounded and ... everyday medical care would be affected," Mercier added.

The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has also stopped UN aid shipments that include food and other humanitarian supplies.

The price of chocolate, cigarettes and Coke has doubled, even trebled, because of the shortages.

The United Nations and the European Union, which funds fuel for Gaza's now-idle main power plant, said they were pressing Israel to allow in fuel and medicine immediately to Gaza.

"We hope and expect nothing less than a positive decision today to allow fuel shipments and medicines into Gaza. We want this to happen today," said Richard Miron, spokesman for UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry.

Meanwhile, John Dugard, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied territories, accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.

The killing of some 40 Palestinians in Gaza in the past week, the targeting of a government office near a wedding party venue which caused serious civilian casualties, and the closure of all crossings into Gaza raise very serious questions about Israel's respect for international law and its commitment to the peace process, Mr Dugard said in a statement.

"Never worse"

Palestinian business leaders and politicians warn that the damage to the economy because of the embargo is now irreparable.

With no raw materials getting in and no finished products getting out, Gaza's industrial sector has collapsed. According to local unions, over 100,000 Palestinians have lost their jobs in the last six months.

"There is no fuel, meaning there is no work," said Abu Mahmoud, a fisherman. "We have seen bad times before, but never worse than these days."

Amr Hamad, the head of the Palestinian Federation of Industries in Gaza, says that even if the goods crossing opened tomorrow, most of the business would not return.

"The Israeli importers have lost their trust in Gaza," he told the BBC. "I don't think they will come back to do business."

Perhaps the busiest people in Gaza now are the gravediggers, who build the graves for the Palestinians killed by deadly Israeli air strikes over the last week.

But the gravediggers are also facing problems due to the Israeli blockade: the cement they use to build the graves has run out and they are now using bathroom tile grout.

"We can't guarantee the quality of work," says Anwar Dramleh, 33, one of the gravediggers told the BBC. "It might lead to water leakage as the graves are not properly finished."

According to the BBC, the food and beverage sector is the one industry in Gaza that has fared well because food has not been subject to the economic embargo.

Manal Hassan, the managing director of the Awda biscuit factory, says that her plant is one of the last still operating in the territory.

But she says that they will be forced to close in two weeks because they ran out of supplies to make the biscuit wrappers.

Like many other businesses in Gaza, Awda's managers want to relocate abroad in neighbouring Egypt or in Jordan.

"It's a disaster for Gaza's economy," she says. "We have to be productive here, we can't just rely on international aid.

Due to the high level of unemployment, many Gazans are searching for any job that would keep them alive.

Close to one of the crossings from Gaza into Israel, a few men working with donkeys sift though rubble for scrap metal, subjecting themselves to death as Israeli troops could fire at them.

One of the workers told the BBC that the job was like "walking towards death".

However, he considers himself lucky to have a job - a rare privilege in Gaza these days.

©  EsinIslam.Com

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