![\"Palestinians](\"https:\/\/static.timesofisrael.com\/www\/uploads\/2018\/03\/000_13F840-640x400.jpg\")
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MARCH 30, 2018 : 15 KILLED, DOZENS WOUNDED… THE GAZA VOLCANO IS ERUPTING….<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n MAY 14, 2018 : 60 KILLED, over ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED WOUNDED…<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n Matan Tzuri, YNet News<\/em>, June 19, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n Israel to build new sewage pipeline to divert waste from Gaza<\/a>\u00a0[to prevent contamination]<\/span><\/p>\n \n Sandy Tolan, Al Jazeera<\/em>, October 29, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n Gaza’s drinking water spurs blue baby syndrome, serious illnesses<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n Sandy Tolan,\u00a0<\/span>Al Jazeera<\/em>, October 30, 2018<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n How can Gaza’s contaminated water catastrophe be solved?<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n Herb Keinon, The Jerusalem Post<\/em>, August 17, 201<\/span><\/span>8<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ANALYSIS: SYRIA IN GAZA, WITHOUT THE RUSSIANS<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n Lisa Rozovsky, Haaretz<\/em>, June 2018<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n For Young Palestinians, There’s Only One Way Out of Gaza<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “In Gaza you have to think a certain way, live in a certain way. Your friends, the language, the culture \u2013 it\u2019s all very rigid. You can\u2019t change it.”<\/span><\/p>\n \n Michael Bachner, The Times of Israel<\/em>, June 20, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n In rare move, Egypt said to keep Gaza crossing open for 2 more months<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \n Alia Chughtai,\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/em>, May 16, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n Palestinians’ Great March of Return: The human cost<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \n Ayelett Shani, Haaretz<\/em>, November 11, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n Gaza Kids Live in Hell: A Psychologist Tells of Rampant Sexual Abuse, Drugs and Despair<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \n GAZA DATA SHEET<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \n There are one million children<\/em> under the age of 15 in the Gaza Strip.<\/span><\/p>\n 200,000 boys between the age of 15 and 24.<\/span><\/p>\n The median age in Gaza is 17.<\/span><\/p>\n In Israel the median age is 30. [38 in the US, 41 in France, 47 in Germany]<\/span><\/p>\n In Gaza, the Youth Dependency Ratio is over 70%. In Israel it is close to 46%.<\/span><\/p>\n [In the US and France: 29%; 20% in Germany]<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Literacy Rate in Gaza is high: 97%.<\/span><\/p>\n So is Unemployment for the young and for women: 66%. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[1,2]<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As for Water from the tap, 97% is polluted, unfit.<\/span><\/p>\n So is sea water: people can\u2019t bathe, as it is contaminated, hazardous to health.<\/span><\/p>\n 100,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage are rejected into the sea every day.<\/span><\/p>\n Electricity is on 3 to 4 hours daily, at random times night and day.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are 59 km of fences between Gaza and Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n There are 13 km of fences between Gaza and Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n In January 2008, activists broke through the heavy metal fences. Half the population (800,000 at the time) rushed to Egypt, and were driven back after a few days. Check Gaza Border Breach<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What Israelis fear is another Border Breach of such magnitude, this time into Israel. [3]<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Since the beginning of 2018, the number of trucks entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom has fallen from 1000 a day (2015-2016) to less than 350, as there is no trade flourishing in Gaza : people just can\u2019t buy anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n \n 80% of Gazans live in poverty, 65% under the poverty line.<\/span><\/p>\n 45% of the people are unemployed (as opposed to 20% in the West Bank and 4.3% in Israel)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n “Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp,” ex British PM Cameron declared, in July 2010<\/strong>, adding: “People in Gaza are living under constant attacks and pressure in an open-air prison”.<\/span><\/p>\n \n [1]<\/span>https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/trapped-between-israel-and-hamas-gazas-wasted-generation-is-going-nowhere\/2017\/08\/06\/47b8bf42-5c18-11e7-aa69-<\/span>3964a7d55207_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.987a19ceb8f2<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0[2] <\/span>Female unemployment in Gaza skyrockets, 66% without jobs\u00a0 2018\/3\/7<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.ynetnews.com\/articles\/0,7340,L-5148754,00.html<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0[3] <\/span>2018\/4\/25\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u201cThe main goal [\u2026] remains to break through the fence, allowing hundreds and thousands of civilians to run into Israeli territory\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/www.ynetnews.com\/articles\/0,7340,L-5239265,00.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n \n *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n Iyad Abuheweila & Isabel Kershner, The New York Times<\/em>, June 2, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n A Woman Dedicated to Saving Lives Loses Hers in Gaza Violence<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \n \u00a0“…<\/span>this is the first time I see the despair everywhere, in every corner…<\/span>There is no joie de vivre, no joy\u00a0<\/span>during Ramadan<\/span><\/a><\/span>. People have no incomes, no food, no medicine. The sense is that the world has forgotten about the Gaza Strip and its people. Life and death are the same side of the coin for a lot of people. I hear people say that explicitly…<\/span><\/p>\n …We as residents feel we’re actually hostages to a system of interests and power plays, and where they will lead, nobody can say.”\u00a0 Jack Khoury, Haaretz<\/em>, May 30,2018<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n Ahmad Abu Amer, Al Monitor<\/em>, April 29, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n Economic disobedience looms in Gaza<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Extracts “Economic disobedience looms in Gaza” :<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip \u2014 Private sector institutions in the Gaza Strip threatened April 23 to start acts of\u00a0economic disobedience<\/a>\u00a0by closing commercial crossings and refusing to pay taxes to the Palestinian government authorities. The private sector institutions hope\u00a0to put pressure on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza in addition to pressuring\u00a0the Palestinian Authority (PA) to cancel the\u00a0sanctions imposed<\/a>\u00a0on the coastal enclave since April 2017, which culminated this month with the suspension of the\u00a0salaries of public workers<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n In a statement that Al-Monitor secured a copy of, the institutions said, \u201cThe Gaza Strip is on the verge of complete collapse in all its vital sectors. There is no longer any room for silence. Gaza is dying. The situation is crumbling down economically, socially and at the health level. (…)\u00a0We requested an urgent meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, but we have yet to receive a response.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The statement continued\u00a0that they have carried out several protests over the past months in a bid to convey messages to all parties, starting with Israel, the neighboring countries and the international communities as well as to the PA and Hamas. Their activities and calls fell on deaf ears.<\/span><\/p>\n The protest movements in Gaza started on Jan. 22 with a\u00a0national strike<\/a>\u00a0(…)<\/span><\/p>\n Alaa al-Din al-Araj<\/a>, the head of the Palestinian Contractors Union in Gaza (…) noted that the authorities are well-aware of the consequences of such a threat, mainly a complete economic shutdown. Araj also stressed that the goal is to put an end to the blockade and the sanctions that have affected every household in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n A Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics report\u00a0published April 14 shows that the\u00a0poverty rate<\/a>\u00a0in the coastal strip has reached 53%.<\/span><\/p>\n Khalil Rizk<\/a>, the head of the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, told Al-Monitor that the federation has\u00a0been in contact with the PA in an attempt to stop the punitive measures.<\/span><\/p>\n On April 24,\u00a0100 nongovernmental organizations<\/a>\u00a0(NGOs) in the Gaza Strip called on Abbas to disburse the salaries of public servants in Gaza and called on Israel to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip in order to stop what they deemed as \u201cthe rapid economic collapse plaguing the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n (…) the number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing has fallen to\u00a0less than 350 trucks<\/a>\u00a0per day compared to\u00a0800-1,000 trucks<\/a>\u00a0per day in 2015 and 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n \n (…) the PA provides\u00a0$100 million<\/a>\u00a0in total to the Gaza Strip per month, $70 million of which is earmarked for the\u00a0salaries of government employees<\/a>. The absence of these funds this month\u00a0paralyzed the financial cycle<\/a>\u00a0in Gaza\u2019s markets and banks. He called on private sector institutions in the West Bank to support their counterparts in Gaza by taking steps to pressure the Palestinian officials to back down from the punitive measures against the Gaza Strip.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Muhammad Shehada, Haaretz<\/em>, April 9, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n Marching in Gaza, my brother risks death – to feel free<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Extracts “My brother in Gaza” :<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My asthmatic younger brother, Salah 18, is scheduled for an urgent eye operation in Egypt, without which he might permanently lose the sight in his right eye. He\u2019s also been awarded a scholarship to study in Algeria, and has been fighting to get out of the Gaza Strip to take up his place for nearly two years, without success.<\/span><\/p>\n His life is being entirely stolen from him by Israel’s blockade, yet his future stares back at him just a footstep away, from behind the giant concrete walls that seal\u00a0<\/span>Gaza<\/span><\/a><\/span>. He\u2019s in a race against time not to lose his sight, his mind, and his life as well.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Almost every day, my brother shows up for the Gaza\u00a0<\/span>“Great Return March,”<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0although my mother has desperately tried almost everything to stop him from running bare-chested towards his death.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0<\/span>border protests<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0are the only place where it feels that he\u2019s at least doing something about his own slow death, even if only to scream at the top of his lungs, telling the world “We are here!”<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s the only place where he and all of my friends in Gaza can catch a breath of freedom, despite the stinging tear gas, even if it’s just for a moment.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n …\/…<\/span><\/p>\n \n Hamas has deployed its security and intelligence personnel to maintain what it sees as the three critical parameters of the protest: independence, non-violence, and no breach of the fence into Israel. The security forces are assigned to prevent individual attempts to disrupt the protest\u2019s non-violence, such as young people trying to throw molotov cocktails towards Israel. Some cases slip their attention; others are dealt with firmly.<\/span><\/p>\n Last Friday, my brother accidentally walked into a tent where the wounded were being attended to. He and his friends were dragged into interrogations by Palestinian internal security personnel for taking photos of the tent and for holding spontaneous interviews with the wounded.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hamas, despite remaining dismissive of the protest\u2019s ability to challenge Israel\u2019s blockade, has, like all political parties would have done, jumped with alacrity into the protests to accrue political capital, recognizing the backdrop as an opportune moment for photoshoots, for fueling popular support and to advance its vested interests.<\/span><\/p>\n When Israel\u00a0<\/span>responds to the protests with violence<\/span><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n
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