UN: Gaza Strip's humanitarian conditions remain bleak

Nov 30, 2010, 20:23 GMT

New York - More than 80 per cent of Gaza Strip's inhabitants still depend on humanitarian aid while their conditions have not improved since the relief flotilla fiasco in May, a United Nations official said Tuesday.

John Ging, director of operations of the UN relief agency in the Middle East, described the situation for Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians as 'hopeful and realistic,' but refrained from showing too much optimism.

Ging said Gazans can obtain nearly all supplies, from food supplies to cement for construction, through smuggling tunnels between the territory and Egypt.

'The plight of the people is still desperate,' Ging said at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York. He said Gazans imported goods and relief supplies through crossing points with Israel, but he was not upbeat about the general situation.

'We have turned the corner, but we are still at the bottom of the ladder,' Ging said, adding that efforts to help the population are now moving in the right direction whereas the previous four years were constrained by conflict in the Hamas-held territory.

International efforts to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza ended in disaster in May when a Turkish-led flotilla was intercepted on the high seas by Israeli forces. Nine people onboard one of the ships were killed.

Since the flotilla disaster, Israel has eased its grip on Gaza and allowed more goods and essential daily items to enter the territory.

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