"On the list of pros and cons for Gaza under Hamas rule, poverty is the most significant con. About 50% of Gaza residents are unemployed. Two thirds live below the poverty line and need international aid to survive. Close to 90% of factories have been shuttered by lack of raw materials due to Israel`s blockade. The construction sector is paralyzed. Most staples can be purchased only at sky-high prices. A. says tahini prices have doubled this year. So have fruit prices.
"Hamas gives out gas coupons every week," he said. "It`s like living in the old Soviet Union. There is electricity three to four hours a day. It`s impossible to go abroad, and impossible to travel with the children inside Gaza because of the gas shortage.""
All of this is, of course, attributable to Israel`s Starvation Blockade - using hunger as a weapon of war against an entire people to make them accept the Israeli jackboot. |
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