Gaza: the largest open air prison of the world

Deficit and desperation define life these days in the Gaza Strip subjected to a cruel blockade by the government of Israel since 2007. Gaza was also bombed by Israel several times killing hundresds of people and destroing many buildings and structures.

The 2 millon residents living in the small 375 km2 territory must live with four hours of electricity a day. Most people don't have access to clean water because the supply system is contaminated with sewage. Breakfast for some schoolchildren is a cup of hot water flavored with a dash of salt.

"Despair isn't even the right word to describe what's going on here because things are getting worse and worse," said Omar Ghraieb, 31, a journalist and digital media manager living in Gaza. "We wake up to a world of struggles each day."

For more than a decade Palestinians living in Gaza have endured major escalations of violence and an air and sea blockade, imposed by Israel that has decimated the infrastructure, stifled economic growth and made living conditions so dismal that United Nations officials say a humanitarian disaster is unavoidable.

"We really are seeing a collapse in place," said Matthias Schmale, director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, which provides humanitarian assistance to more than 1.3 million refugees in the self-governing Palestinian territory.

For most of those struggling to survive in Gaza, the hardships are real.

Speaking via the social media app WhatsApp, Ghraieb recalled how it was not so long ago that the power stayed on for eight hours each day, enough time to cook, surf the internet and heat the apartment that he shares with his father and sister.

Palestinian charge their cellphones using batteries, a free service offered in a Gaza City neighborhood suffering from power disruptions.

Many people have resorted to burning wood and stocking up on blankets to stay warm, Ghraieb said. Generators are available, but few people can afford the fuel to run them.

"Of course some have it better than others, but … it's like we went back a decade," Ghraieb said. "It's crazy seeing the world advance by the minute while seeing a place you call home decline by the second."

Health facilities are also feeling the strain of the power scarcity. Last week, a hospital serving 66,000 people in the northern Gaza Strip halted operations and a children's medical center reduced its services to a bare minimum.

According to the World Bank, only 10% of Gaza's population has access to safe drinking water. The sewage system has broken down and wastewater pollutes the aquifer that flows beneath Gaza.

The 1.3 million refugees whom UNRWA serves account for about 70% of Gaza's population of 2 million people. Of these refugees, 77% live in poverty and depend on the U.N. agency for food, Schmale said.

"Gaza is a place that has been testing the limits of what the minimum level of sustainability is before a total humanitarian catastrophe," Munayyer said. "We inch closer every day to finding where that threshold is."

An economy in ruins

About 46% the population in Gaza, which covers 141 square miles, is without work. The statistic stands at 64% among young people under the age of 25, and at 77% for women within that group. And unemployment is rising, according to U.N. officials.

"A lot of these industries that you could rely on to produce and generate some independent dynamism for the economy have also suffered because of the siege policy," Munayyer said.

Egypt's border with Gaza is closed and Israel allows only trucks carrying food or other humanitarian necessities to pass through. The dramatic drop in purchasing power of Gazans is evident in the number of supply trucks entering the strip weekly from Israel. It has dropped from an average of 900 trucks a week to about 300, according to Israeli army data.

Entire industries have collapsed within the Gaza Strip. Farming areas along the perimeter of the strip have been ruined by the siege and three recent wars with Israel, in 2009, 2012 and 2014.