Gaza Could Become 'Uninhabitable' by 2020, UN Report Warns . Many students have not paid tuition fees. With no further delay, and until the Palestinian Authority resumes the coordination of medical exit permits, the WHO, with the cooperation of Palestinian and Israeli authorities, should immediately begin to facilitate the transfer of patients’ documentation to Israeli and Palestinian officials to ensure Gazans’ access to life-saving healthcare. In addition, UNRWA redesigned its food program, which benefits 1.1 million people, switching from collective distribution centers to a home delivery model. By early September, containing the virus seemed increasingly difficult, with the number of positive cases inside Gaza reaching 1,024 as of September 8.[viii]. Over the years, the blockade has deepened poverty in Gaza. Five years ago, the United Nations famously predicted that, if the humanitarian conditions didn’t change, Gaza would be uninhabitable by 2020. 21 Aug 2020 Gaza’s MCA … Did it turn out that way? For several months, these efforts have spared Gaza the worst of the coronavirus. Gaza Strip access and movement | October 2020. In late June 2020, donor countries held an Extraordinary Virtual Ministerial Pledging Conference to bridge UNRWA’s $400 million funding gap. Ali HamadAPA images. The other results from Gaza’s daily reality under the blockade. The Gaza blockade is entering its fourteenth year. Israel should commit to significant and substantial measures to ease the entry into Gaza of building materials intended for the humanitarian sector. Passengers sit next to their luggage as they wait to cross the border to the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020. In 2019, unemployment was estimated at more than 50 percent in general and 70 percent among youths. A university’s vice-president in Gaza explained, “Thirty percent of students dropped out this semester, and only 10 percent paid the full tuition fees. (AP) The blockade Even before COVID-19, 30 percent of the first diagnoses in UNRWA’s health centers were related to mental health, explained UNRWA’s Gaza Director. In this file photo taken on April 28, 2020 A Palestinians man walks past a mural depicting the coronavirus and a prison cell, in Gaza City during the … Both teleworking and tele-education have put additional strains on Gaza’s infrastructure. [1] This year the illegal blockade of Gaza entered its 14 year and Israel continues to deny the people of Gaza their basic rights and life in dignity. Subscribe to get our publications. The Muslim Brotherhood in the Egyptian parliament wished to open trade across the border with Gaza in 2012, a move said to be resisted by Egypt's Tantawi government. A Palestinian boy sells bananas on a donkey carte in an alley in the Shati refugee camp, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. The movement of people and goods through these crossings is tightly controlled by Israeli and Egyptian authorities. By 2020, the UN said Gaza would be unliveable. According to the head of the General Federation of Trade Unions in Gaza, between mid-March and mid-July, nearly 4,000 people in Gaza lost their jobs, at least 50 factories closed their doors, and more than 10,000 taxi drivers have seen a large reduction in their income. [xiii] Phone Interviews with journalists, activists, INGOs and NGOs representatives in Gaza, June-July 2020. A 2012 UN report predicted the Palestinian enclave would be “unliveable” by 2020 if nothing was done to ease the blockade, but in June 2017 a UN report on living conditions in Gaza stated that all the indicators are going in the wrong direction and that deadline is actually approaching even faster than earlier predicted. International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and Palestinian NGOs followed the Agency’s lead, supporting efforts to raise awareness among the local community.[iii]. [xi] Phone interview with a representative of a Palestinian NGO in Gaza, June 20, 2020. The permit system for medical patients has been tightly controlled by Israel in recent years and relatively few permits are issued. [x] Phone interviews with residents in Gaza, July 2020. Gulf countries should commit to at least $200 million yearly contribution to UNRWA’s core budget, as they did in 2018, in addition to emergency funding. Gaza Quarantine and Isolation Centers Interactive Map. All products. West Bank Barrier. The United Nations (UN) in 2012 released a report saying “Gaza will not be liveable until 2020”. Your IP: 195.154.78.230 [v] However, shortages remain, and in the event of a local outbreak, Gaza will need a significant increase of ventilators, PPE, and testing kits. Reconstruction efforts have been complicated by the blockade and by construction permits’ delays or denials. The group is committed to confronting Israel, which has imposed a land, sea and air blockade. The Gaza Strip has been under a complete land, sea and air closure and restrictions since June 2007, that in effect amount to a blockade, with nearly 2 million people living in … In general, Israel and Egypt should commit to freedom of movement for Gazans, and, in particular, relax movement restrictions on Gazans who are playing a key role in promoting key humanitarian objectives—particularly medical personnel, teachers, key service providers, and seeking professional training and advancement in these sectors. [iv] Email correspondence with UNRWA Gaza Director, August 3, 2020. UN agency: Israel’s Gaza blockade has devastated economy. Hamas rule It is densely populated and impoverished, in part due to the ongoing political situation of the region. Even before the August outbreak, Gaza was reeling under the weight of last spring’s three-month lockdown and the pandemic’s wider global economic impact. The Gaza strip has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007. [viii] Email correspondence with UNRWA’s officials in Gaza, September 3, 2020. Under any circumstances, social distancing in the enclave would be a formidable challenge. However, Gulf contributions remain unpredictable. A Palestinian boy sells bananas on a donkey carte in an alley in the Shati refugee camp, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. We did not have to deal with the same challenges faced by the rest of the world. As of September 3, the number of local cases had risen to 463. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Gaza’s inadequate living conditions, dilapidated infrastructure, and weak healthcare system made it ill-prepared to face a COVID-19 epidemic. The enclave has no more than 78 functioning intensive care beds, all of which were in use as of this writing, and even fewer ventilators. According to UNRWA’s director in Gaza, “a combination of good luck and good measures,” has resulted in what seems to be a relatively small number of COVID-19 infections. [x] Most people did not wear face masks, maintain physical distancing, or comply with sanitary requirements, residents in Gaza told Refugees International. Gaza has been facing a blockade of Israel and Egypt since 2007. The tightly controlled movement in and out of Gaza allowed for early detection of COVID-19 cases and a mandatory quarantine. The Trump administration should reverse its 2018 decision to stop UNRWA funding as well as other forms of funding to the occupied Palestinian territories. This is largely due to the fact that travel in and out of the Gaza Strip remains highly restricted and daunting, leaving a deeply weakened and overstretched medical personnel. People inside the Strip find themselves trapped in increasingly unlivable conditions. [i], Furthermore, Gaza’s Ministry of Health enforced a two-week quarantine on all travelers entering from Rafah in Egypt or the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in Israel, which was subsequently extended to three weeks. Double Quarantine in Gaza: COVID-19 and the Blockade, Greece and EU Must Act Following Moria Camp Tragedy, Minimize the Adverse Drivers and Structural Factors that Compel People to Leave their Country of Origin, Critical Advice for Biden-Harris Administration, were not required to wear masks or keep distancing, an increase of at least 10 percent in the poverty rate, Reconstruction efforts have been complicated, The bombings came in response to incendiary balloons, More than two thirds of Gaza’s population, a number of hospitals and clinics to close, the PA ended all agreements signed between the PLO and Israel, mechanism to facilitate the transfer of patients’ documentation, loss of lives among non-COVID-19 patients, Israel announced its suspension of the annexation plan, Trump administration political objectives, https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2018/11/2/the-thousandth-cut-eliminating-us-humanitarian-assistance-to-gaza. The restrictions, combined with periodic hostilities and a lack of funding, have contributed to the decay of medical infrastructure and shortages of drugs, equipment, supplies, and personnel. Chronic Shortfalls and the 2018 U.S. Aid Cutoff, The relatively strong performance of the UN COVID-19 appeal belies the recent history of donor funding for Gaza. • Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, several organizations and UN agencies had warned that Gaza’s healthcare system was “on the brink of collapse.” The recent Israeli ban on fuel and resulting closure of Gaza’s only power plant could cause power cuts in hospitals with “dangerous repercussions” on patients’ lives, warned officials in Gaza. Occupied Jerusalem, SANA- The Israeli occupation warplanes renewed aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip. [xvi] Email correspondence with UNRWA officials, September 2, 2020. UN head Antonio Guterres implored the warring parties in Israel and Gaza … Movement restrictions imposed by Israel since the early 1990’s and intensified in June 2007, following the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, have severely undermined the living conditions. Two million Palestinians live within 365 square kilometres in Gaza, making it one of the most densely populated places in the world. Some NGOs stepped in to secure medical exit permits for patients in Gaza. By land, the Strip is connected through the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the Beit Hanoun (Erez) with Israel, in addition to the Kerem Shalom (Karam Abou Salem) and the Salah el Din commercial crossings with Israel and Egypt respectively. [iii] Phone interviews with UNRWA officials in Gaza and Washington DC, June 2020. [ix] Phone interview with a journalist in Gaza, 25 June 2020. Other crossings remain closed. Some donor countries have stepped in to fill some of the funding shortfall, including countries in Europe and the Gulf. COVID-19 has exacerbated the sense of despair and heightened social problems in the Strip. This in turn has forced the enclave’s only power plant to shut down. In 2018, the funding gaps and power blackouts forced a number of hospitals and clinics to close. For more than five years the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has been warning the world that Gaza will become uninhabitable by 2020 if the blockade does not end. In Gaza, the COVID-19 pandemic comes against the backdrop of renewed violence and increased access restrictions. As of August 11, 73 percent of the amount requested in the Response Plan has been raised. Gaza blockade | Restrictions eased but most people still ‘locked in’ 12 February 2020 | The Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip imposed in 2007, citing security concerns, as well as the access restrictions imposed by Egypt, were eased in some ways during 2019. These Israeli restrictions, coupled with the PA’s decision and the crossing closure due to COVID-19, have hampered access to life-saving healthcare for hundreds of Gazans resulting in loss of lives among non-COVID-19 patients. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November/December 2020, pp. Weather and natural disasters. However, the detection of 12 COVID-19 cases in late August among members of the community could represent the beginning of more hardship for a population that has already suffered tremendously. This warning has … The European Union should continue to support UNRWA through predictable funding to the Agency’s Program budget, in the form of a multi-year financing commitment, at a level commensurate with prior years (about EUR 100 million), in addition to supporting emergency responses. And by late July, life was virtually back to normal with only some slight COVID-19 preventive measures to be seen in the Strip. Together, they provide food aid, essential medicines, a wide network of schools, water, and sanitation operations. [iv] Finally, humanitarian organizations provided a wide range of non-food items and continued support through the provision of food and other services in the quarantine facilities.
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