June 2008
Since Israel began its blockade, Gaza has rarely been out of the news. We take a look at life behind the blockade and the headlines and we see a people left suffering and angry.
'Enough!' shouts a gas-buyer in the market, 'We are a people who have had enough!' The mood in the market, as in Gaza as a whole, is one of misery and anger. No one is allowed to enter or leave Gaza, and restrictions have been placed on water, fuel and electricity. 'This is the problem with Gaza', says John Ging, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency. 'The problems are identified, the solutions are known and yet nothing changes other than the situation continues to get worse and worse'. Karima Al Doul has cancer in an advanced stage. Before the blockade she used to travel to Israel for chemotherapy, but now treatment is unavailable and she has only months to live. Karima worries about the five children she will leave behind. It is the vulnerable that have suffered most from the blockades, she tells us. 'Many sick people have died because of this blockade. They are sick; this is not their fault'.