- Title: Gaza "unliveable" 10 years after Hamas seized power - U.N.
- Date: 11th July 2017
- Summary: JERUSALEM (JULY 11, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT PIPER, THE U.N. COORDINATOR FOR HUMANITARIAN AID AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, SAYING: "I see this extraordinarily inhuman and unjust process of strangling gradually two million civilians in Gaza that really pose a threat to nobody. I don't know, you know, we talk about the unliveability of Gaza. When you're down to two hours a day of electricity, which is the case earlier this week, when you've got 60 percent youth unemployment rates, where you really do have such a little horizon - for me and you probably and most of the people watching, that unliveability threshold has been passed quite a long time ago." U.N. FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT PIPER, THE U.N. COORDINATOR FOR HUMANITARIAN AID AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, SAYING: "(Q: You talk about Gaza being strangled. Who is doing the strangling?) "Everyone's having a go. And I think that's the message in this report, the fundamental message is, we've got to, someone has got to step back and put the interests of civilians at the top of the queue for a change." MORE OF PIPER TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT PIPER, THE U.N. COORDINATOR FOR HUMANITARIAN AID AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, SAYING: "In the media, in the NGO community, but even in the Defence Ministry, you'll find plenty of thoughtful Israelis that will recognise that, firstly, the current trajectory is threatening for Israel's security and that a stable and prosperous Gaza, just as a prosperous and stable West Bank, is also good for Israeli security, I think there is no question about that."
- Embargoed: 25th July 2017 12:32
- Keywords: Israel Gaza United Nations Robert Piper Hamas Electricity
- Location: JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY, GAZA
- City: JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY, GAZA
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0056P9W4LJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
A decade after the Islamist group Hamas seized control of Gaza, the Palestinian enclave is effectively unliveable for its two million people, with declining incomes, healthcare, education, electricity and fresh water, the United Nations said on Tuesday (July 11).
In a report examining humanitarian conditions in the territory, which Hamas took over after a brief conflict with forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority in June 2007, the U.N. concludes the situation in Gaza is deteriorating "further and faster" than was forecast only a few years ago.
Immediately after Hamas took power, Israel moved to isolate the militant group, restricting the flow of goods and people in and out of Gaza, limiting access to the sea and working with Egypt to enforce a blockade.
At the same time, Hamas has been in near-constant dispute with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, prompting the PA to limit financial transfers to Gaza and, in recent weeks, asking Israel to cut back electricity supplies. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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