FN lægger ikke fingrene imellem i ny rapport, som nærmest konkluderer, at området vil være ubeboeligt for mennesker om relativt få år, med mindre der sættes massivt ind for at forbedre levevilkår og de offentlige serviceydelser.
Basic infrastructure in water, health, education and sanitation “is struggling to keep pace with a growing population in Gaza”, according to the report, writes BBC online Monday.
Israel tightened a blockade on Gaza after the Islamist movement Hamas came to power in the territory in 2007.
The UN report estimates Gaza will need double the number of schools and 800 more hospital beds by 2020, and says the territory is already suffering from a housing shortage.
The report also says the coastal aquifer (underjordisk vandreservoir), the territory’s only natural source of fresh water, may become unusable by 2016.
Gaza has no air or sea ports, and the economy is heavily dependent on outside funding and smuggling through tunnels under the Egyptian border.
Even though Gaza has experienced some economic growth in recent years, the report says it “does not seem to be sustainable” and finds that Gazans are worse off now than in the 1990s.
Unemployment was at 29 per cent in 2011 and has risen since then, particularly affecting women and young people.
