Gaza food supplies strangled by 1.000-day blockade: Sixty percent of the Gaza population is food insecure
RAMALLAH, 30 May 2010 (IRIN): The amount and quality of food available to the estimated 1,5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip has been severely restricted by more than 1.000 days of a near-complete blockade, states a UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report.
– Sixty-one percent of the Gaza population is food insecure, said Sarah Leppert, FAO’s communications adviser for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, adding:
– There is a diverse range of foods available in Gaza; the problem is people do not have the means to purchase the food due to rising poverty and unemployment, now nearly 39 percent.
Israel’s import and access restrictions continue to suffo-cate (kvæle) the agriculture sector in Gaza, directly contributing to rising food insecu-rity, said acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt), Philippe Lazzarini.
His conclusion came in a joint statement with humanitarian aid agencies, and the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), representing more than 80 NGOs on 25 May from Gaza.
Protein-rich foods such as meat and poultry (fjerkræ) are especially difficult for Gazans to afford. Families have resorted to coping mechanisms including borrowing money and relying on aid from humanitarian agencies operating in Gaza, said Leppert.
A poverty survey conducted by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) shows that the number of Palestine refugees unable to access food and lacking the means to purchase even the most basic items, such as soap, school stationery and safe drinking water, has tripled since the imposition of the blockade in June 2007.
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