Attachments
INTRODUCTION
In 2018, AIDA published a policy brief highlighting the effects of the siege on the Gaza Strip. This was done in coordination with AIDA members who have extensive expertise in their respective technical fields and a significant programing presence in Gaza for over a decade. The brief in 2018 highlighted issues particularly around human rights, political and economic challenges, and livelihoods. It was released following the Government of Israel’s (GoI) announcement on July 9, 2018 of its tightening restrictions on access to Gaza. The intention of this brief, both in past and present iterations, has been to amplify the call to end the Gaza blockade, and cease the collective punishment on innocent civilians it embodies.
This updated version of the brief focuses on two key access concepts around Gaza; livelihoods in the access restricted areas (ARAs) at land and sea, and the right to movement for Palestinians. We aim to quantify some of the changes in the socioeconomic indicators since 2018, as well as to give some nuance as to the impact of those changes on the ground in the last four years within the humanitarian and development context.
Over the last four years, Palestinians in Gaza confronted several challenges arising from a litany of external shocks. These external pressures have further eroded the welfare and wellbeing of the general population and exacerbated the vulnerabilities of the poorest. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the Gaza Strip in 2020, and while morbidity has been relatively low, the impacts on the health system, health care workers, and the economy at large has been devastating.
Add to that two military conflicts between Israeli and Palestinian armed groups, which took place between May 10-21, 2021 and again between August 5-7, 2022.
The escalations destroyed hundreds of homes, leaving thousands without shelter, damaged essential drinking, sanitation and health facilities, and infrastructure, and have led to widespread trauma on a level not seen previously in Gaza. The conflicts resulted in 302 Palestinian deaths, including 82 children. There have now been seven military campaigns waged on Gaza since 2009, in one of the most population dense areas in the world. The humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza are higher than ever after fifteen years of blockade and repetitive hostilities.
Vulnerability and poverty increase every year under the blockade, and now many are turning their attention to what they say are the “unseen” longer term effects on mental health and the enduring trauma many families, especially children, are carrying.