FAST FACTS

• The intensified blockade on the Gaza Strip imposed on June 2007 is beginning its sixth year.

• Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world (over 4,500 people per sq. km).

• 34% of Gaza’s workforce, including over half its youth, is unemployed.

• 44% of Gazans are food insecure and about 80% are aid recipients.

• In 2011, the GDP per capita was almost 17% below the equivalent figure in 2005, before the last Palestinian elections.

• In 2011 less than one truckload of goods per day exited Gaza, less than 3% the average amount of exports during the first half of 2007.

• 35% of Gaza’s farmland and 85% of its fishing waters are totally or partially inaccessible due to Israeli imposed restrictions.

• Since June 2010, 73% of UN reconstruction projects submitted to the Israeli authorities have been approved; dozens of other projects have been pending approval for an average of 18 months.

• A severe fuel and electricity shortage results in outages of up to 12 hours a day.

• Some 90 million litres of untreated and partially treated sewage are dumped in the sea each day.

• Over 90% of the water from the Gaza aquifer is unsafe for human consumption without treatment.

• 85% of schools in Gaza run on double shifts.

• Some 71,000 new housing units are required to cover current housing needs.

• Since the intensification of the blockade in 2007, at least 172 Palestinian civilians have been killed and 318 injured while working in tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.

• During this period, nearly 2,300 Palestinians have been killed and 7,700 injured by Israeli forces, about two thirds of them during the “Cast Lead” offensive. Over a quarter (27%) of all Palestinian fatalities were women and children.

• Since June 2007, 37 Israelis have been killed and 380 injured in attacks launched from Gaza, 40% of whom were civilians.