from UN OCHA via ReliefWeb
Excerept from Statement by John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
I found conditions for the people of Gaza grim and miserable, and far from 'normal'. Eight months of severe restrictions on the movement of goods and people entering and leaving the territory, following the Hamas take-over in June 2007, have taken a heavy economic and social toll, coming on top of years of difficulty and economic decline. Whilst the most basic humanitarian goods, particularly food aid, have mostly continued to struggle through, other imports have been progressively closed off ... Only about 10% of what went into Gaza in January 2007 was allowed to enter in January 2008 ... Since June 2007, the movement of Palestinians in and out of Gaza has been virtually impossible, apart from the short period when the Rafah wall was down and with limited exceptions made for urgent medical cases, pilgrims, those with student and work visas and foreign residence documentation.
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