Originally
occupied by Egypt, which retains control of Gaza's southern border, the
coastal territory was captured by Israel during the 1967 Middle East
war.In 2005, Israel withdrew its troops and some 7,000 settlers. A year later, the militant Islamist group Hamas won
Palestinian legislative elections. It ruled.Gaza from 2007 to 2014
following a violent rift with the rival Fatah faction of Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.When Hamas took over in Gaza, Israel swiftly imposed a
blockade on the territory, restricting the movement of goods and people
in and out. Egypt meanwhile blockaded Gaza's southern border.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
Since Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2007, Egypt has largely kept its border with Gaza closed
Already limited, freedom of movement and access to Gaza were
reduced significantly after mid-2013, when Egypt put new restrictions in
place at the Rafah border crossing and launched a crackdown on the
network of smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border.
In the first half of 2013, 40,000 people were crossing each
month at Rafah. From July to December 2013, the traffic was reduced to
about 9,550 per month.
In recent years, Rafah had become the primary entry and exit
point to Gaza for Palestinians as a result of Israeli restrictions at
the Erez crossing in the north.
The smuggling tunnels had meanwhile proliferated after the
tightening of the blockade of Gaza. They were used to import
construction materials, livestock, fuel, food, cash and weapons.
The easing of the blockade in June 2010 saw the number of
operating tunnels decrease from about 1,000 to approximately 200 to 300.
Smugglers focused on transferring construction materials for the
private sector and fuel that was cheaper to purchase in Egypt than
Israel.
The crackdown on the tunnels that started in June 2013
resulted in an almost total halt in smuggling, triggering shortages of
building materials and fuel, and a surge in the price of food.
ECONOMY
Tunnels were dug under the Egyptian border to bring in all kinds of goods, and weapons
Gazans are, on average, worse off than in the 1990s. Twenty-one
percent are in deep poverty, living on less than 1,832 shekels ($534;
£313) a month, compared with 7.8% in the West Bank.
The unemployment rate in the Strip is 40.8%, significantly
higher than in the West Bank. Of particular concern is the high youth
unemployment rate, which stands at more than 50% in Gaza.
The Hamas-run economy ministry estimated that the crackdown
on smuggling had cost Gaza's economy $460m in 2013. The reduction of
revenue from tax collection on smuggling also led the government to
delay the payment of salaries to Gaza's 50,000 civil servants.
The severe shortage of building materials led to a surge in
prices and a sharp slowdown in the construction sector, which employs
about 10% of the workforce. The fuel shortage saw meanwhile thousands of
workers employed in the transport, fishing and agricultural sectors
lose income.
EDUCATION
Many children attend schools run by the UN
Gaza's school system is under pressure. The UN, which runs many
of the territory's schools, says an additional 440 schools are needed
by 2020 to cope with the expected growth in the population.
Some 463,600 children attend 694 primary and secondary
schools. To make up for the shortage of educational facilities, 67% of
government and 71% of UN schools run on double shifts, limiting
instruction time. Classes are also large, with anywhere between 40 to 50
pupils in each.
This has led to shorter school days and lower enrolment in
the secondary system. Training and vocational opportunities are also few
and far between. That said, official figures for literacy are high; 93%
for women, 98% for men.
Thirteen schools are located in areas near the Gaza-Israel
fence which often see clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian
militants.
POPULATION
Some of Gaza's refugee camps lack basic amenities
Gaza's population is expected to grow to 2.13 million by the end of the decade.
This will also result in an increase in the population
density which is already one of the highest in the world. On average,
some 4,505 people live on every square kilometre in Gaza. That's
expected to rise to 5,835 people per square kilometre by 2020.
The UN says there is a shortage of 70,000 housing units due
to natural population growth, as well as the damage caused by Israel's
ground offensive in December 2008-January 2009. Some 12,000 people
remain displaced after the destruction of their homes.
The ratio of young people between the ages of 15 and 29 to
the total over-15 population is exceptionally high, at 53%. This leads
to a high dependency rate.
Should the economy pick up there will be plenty of young
people of working age. But if not, there is the potential for social
tension, violence and extremism, according to the UN.
HEALTH
Electricity and fuel shortages have disrupted the functioning of medical facilities
The UN says that while health indicators in Gaza are comparable
to middle and high-income countries, quality needs to be improved. It
says most health facilities are unable to provide adequate care and need
to be upgraded.
Access to public health services has worsened as a result of
the measures adopted by the Egyptian authorities in mid-2013, according
to the UN.
The closure of the Rafah crossing reduced the number of
patients travelling to Egypt for treatment from a monthly average of
4,146 to 305, with only very sick people or special cases allowed to
enter, and disrupted the supply of critical medicines. Gaza's ministry
of health had previously depended on Egypt to treat 20% of its outside
referrals and for 25% of its drug supplies.
Since 2008 Israel has increased the number of medical cases it allows in from Gaza for treatment.
Egypt's closure of smuggling tunnels led to severe fuel and
electricity shortages that disrupted the functioning of medical
facilities. Frequent and prolonged power cuts strained hospitals'
back-up power sources, affecting medical equipment and leading to
interrupted or postponed treatment.
FOOD
Not so long ago, Gaza had a thriving fishing industry
The level of food insecurity in Gaza increased from 44% to 57%
between 2012 and 2013. Eighty per cent of Gaza's population receive some
form of food aid as few have sufficient money to pay for their basic
needs.
Israeli restrictions on access to agricultural land and fishing add to the challenges.
Gazans are also not allowed to farm in the Israeli-declared
buffer zone - 1.5km (0.9 miles) wide on the Gaza side of the border -
and this has led to a loss in production of an estimated 75,000 tonnes
of produce a year. The restricted area coincides with what is considered
Gaza's best arable land.
Following the November 2012 ceasefire agreement between
Israel and Hamas, the fishing limit was extended from three nautical
miles to six. However, it has been periodically reduced to three
nautical miles in response to rocket fire from Gaza. Israeli naval
forces frequently open fire towards Palestinian fishing boats
approaching or exceeding the limit. The UN says if the limit was lifted,
fishing could provide employment and a cheap source of protein for the
people of Gaza.
POWER
Power cuts in Gaza disrupt almost all aspects of daily life
Power cuts are an every-day occurrence in Gaza. It gets most of
its power from Israel together with further contributions from Gaza's
only power plant and a small amount from Egypt. However, this is less
than its current needs.
Many homes have their own generators, but fuel is extremely expensive to buy.
The shortage of fuel caused by the Egyptian crackdown on
smuggling affected the production of electricity at the Gaza Power Plant
(GPP), which had become dependent on cheap Egyptian diesel.
After depleting its reserves, the plant was forced to shut
down for 43 days in late 2013, triggering lengthy power outages and
severely disrupting the provision of basic services, including health,
main water and sanitation facilities. The plant resumed operations after
the Palestinian Authority bought fuel from Israel with funds donated
from Qatar. There was a shorter outage in March 2014.
Offshore there is a gas field which the UN says could provide
all the territory's power needs if it was developed. Any surplus could
be ploughed into development.
WATER AND SANITATION
Heavy rainfall in December 2013 overwhelmed Gaza's storm water and sewage systems
Gaza has little rain and no major fresh water source to
replenish it underground water supplies which are not large enough to
keep up with demand.
Salt from the sea has seeped into underground supplies
raising salination levels above acceptable levels for drinking water.
Only 5.5% of the piped water meets World Health Organisation (WHO)
quality standards and some 340,000 people in the Strip were forced to
consume drinking water of unacceptable quality in 2013, according to the
UN.
Treatment of waste water and sewage is another headache. Gaza
relies on waste water treatment plants that are either working beyond
their capacity or were constructed as temporary installations for
partial treatment. As a result, about 90 million litres of untreated or
partially treated sewage is pumped into the Mediterranean Sea every day,
creating pollution, public health hazard and problems for the fishing
industry.
The shutdown of Gaza's power plant in November 2013 due to a
fuel shortage and the inability of waste water treatment plant operators
to keep their generators running led to the release of sewage into the
storm water system and the flooding of sewage stations.
When winter storm Alexa struck the next month, inundating the
storm water system with rainfall, entire areas across Gaza were flooded
with a mixture of sewage and storm water, creating public health
concerns.
