The Gaza Strip may already be "unlivable" after a decade under Hamas rule and a crippling Israeli blockade, a United Nations official warned on Tuesday.
As a new report on living conditions in Gaza shows "all the indicators are going in the wrong direction," said Robert Piper, the UN's top humanitarian official in the Palestinian territories.
"We predicted some years ago that Gaza would fast become unlivable on a host of indicators and that deadline is actually approaching even faster than we predicted -- from health access, to energy to water," he said.
A 2012 UN report predicted the Palestinian enclave would be "unlivable" by 2020 if nothing was done to ease the blockade. Mr Piper pointed out that power supplies were down to as little as two hours a day in Gaza, where medical care had been slashed and youth unemployment was over 60 percent.
In such circumstances "for most of us that unlivability point has already been passed", he said. "And yet somehow the Gazans soldier on."
The Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas seized Gaza from secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's forces in June 2007, leading Israel to impose a crippling blockade which critics say punishes all of the two million residents indiscriminately.
Since 2013 Egypt, the only other country with which Gaza shares a border, has largely closed off its crossing and destroyed hundreds of smuggling tunnels that provided a vital lifeline for the economy while also allegedly being used by Hamas to bring in weapons.
The new UN report, "Gaza -- Ten Years Later," says more than 95 percent of Gaza's water is now unfit for drinking, while electricity supplies have reached critical levels in recent months -- falling to only a few hours a day.
Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, most recently in 2014.
Tiny Gaza is wedged between Israel, Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean and is barely 40 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide.
With two million people it is one of the most densely populated places in the world, and has suffered heavily in each of the conflicts.
The Palestinian Authority, which runs the internationally-recognised government in the West Bank, has recently begun a campaign to squeeze Hamas -- including reducing energy funding and allegedly the number of permits given to sick Gazans seeking medical treatment outside. Critics say this has led to yet more suffering in Gaza.
Mr Piper said the PA's objective of ending the split between Palestinian factions was "legitimate" and even backed some of the measures to put pressure on Hamas, but warned others were indiscriminate.
After being expelled by Hamas in 2007, the PA continued to pay the salaries of more than 40,000 employees who are not actually working. The PA has sought to reduce their salaries in recent months, while forcibly retiring others.
Analysts say the move is designed to put pressure Hamas by creating tension in Gaza, and a recent poll found 88 percent of Palestinians opposed the move.
"Cuts that were made to the salaries of employees who were still at home and not even going to work are arguably a legitimate means of putting some pressure on the de facto authorities in Gaza," Mr Piper said. Other measures, he said, "are much less palatable" highlighting the energy cuts and reduction in the number of healthcare permits for sick Gazans seeking care outside the strip.
"The Palestinian Authority has been taking certain measures to at least slow access to proper health care," he said. "These sorts of measures for us are not acceptable."
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
more from Janine di Giovanni
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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