Israel is not going to improve the situation

As Gaza marks one year since the launch of Israel's devastating 50-day assault, it remains in a state of crisis. The assault killed 2,200 Palestinians, including 550 children. On the Israeli side, 73 people were killed, all but six of them soldiers. A year later, none of the 12,000 homes destroyed in Gaza have been rebuilt, in part due to the ongoing Israeli blockade. The World Bank is warning the Gaza economy is on the verge of collapse. Overall unemployment now stands at 43 percent — the highest in the world. Sixty-eight percent of Gazans aged between 20 and 24 are unemployed. Two-thirds of Gaza's 1.8 million residents are now recipients of UN aid in one form or another.

People have survived a very dreadful winter in the different parts of the Gaza Strip, simply because they don't have the proper housing. They don't trust that Israel is going to improve the situation at all, unless there is more international pressure on Israel to allow construction materials into the Gaza Strip.

Ted Rudow III, MA
Palo Alto, CA, USA