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| A boy in the Gaza Strip, file photo |
The UN has expressed concern that more than 80 percent of the 1.5 million Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip depend on relief supplies for their survival.
On Tuesday, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, John Ging, said, "The plight of the people is still desperate," dpa reported.
"…we are still at the bottom of the ladder," he added.
Gaza has endured more than three years under an all-out Tel Aviv-imposed siege, which has deprived the people of the impoverished coastal sliver of food, fuel and other necessities.
The official said the situation has not improved since May 31, when Israeli commandos carried out an attack on Freedom Flotilla -- a Gaza-bound aid convoy that was attacked by Israeli forces.
The fleet was carrying approximately 750 human rights activists and around 10,000 tons of construction material, medical equipment and school supplies, which were diverted to the Israeli port of Ashdod in the south of Tel Aviv. The assault in international waters killed nine Turkish activists and injured about 50 others, prompting international outcry.
The unyielding embargo persists while Gaza is far from recovering from the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli war that killed over 1,400 Palestinians, inflicting a damage of above $1.6 billion on the enclave's economy.
Israeli military forces, meanwhile, regularly open fire on Gazans who resort to collecting and selling rubble to be able to cope with the dire circumstances.
HN/MGH
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