Poverty is rampant at record rates in Gaza after 16 years of the Israeli blockade

Yesterday, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that about 1.5 million of the population of the Gaza Strip, which numbered two million and 300,000 people, have become poor due to the Israeli siege and restrictions imposed on the Strip since 2006. The Observatory documented, in its annual report, “16 years of bitterness … A generation born trapped”, the dire effects of the long-term blockade on various levels in Gaza.

The report documented the doubling of indicators of the humanitarian crisis, as the unemployment rate before the imposition of the blockade in 2005 was about 23.6%, while at the end of 2021 it reached 50.2%, to be among the highest unemployment rates in the world.

Likewise, poverty rates have risen sharply due to Israeli closures and bans, from 40% in 2005 to 69% in 2021.

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