In the ruins of what used to be his home, Gaza Strip resident Rabah Abu Shanab reflects on what used to be — and what little hope remains.
“We were doing better a year ago,” the 57-year-old said while sitting on a plastic chair in his living room, now just concrete slabs and twisted iron bars.
“The whole world was paying attention to Gaza, but today nobody cares,” he said.
Photo: EPA
This week marks one year since Israel’s devastating war with Palestinian militants in Gaza, and despite a tacit ceasefire that has largely held, there has been little reason for residents caught up in the conflict to believe their suffering will soon end.
Thousands of homes destroyed by Israeli strikes are yet to be rebuilt, a strict Israeli blockade and tightly controlled borders have added to Gazans’ misery and the risk of yet another conflict remains a threat.
On top of that, internal tensions have seen Salafist extremists in Gaza challenge Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the territory, angry over its ceasefire with Israel and what they see as its lack of zeal in enforcing Islamic law.
Jihadists — and not Hamas — have claimed credit for recent rocket fire into Israel.
They have claimed links to the Islamic State group, and whether or not there is any truth to such statements, their emergence has further complicated the task of setting Gaza on a path to recovery.
Residents find themselves trapped in the besieged coastal enclave, which has seen three wars in six years and where 39 percent of the 1.8 million population lives below the poverty line.
Last year’s 50-day war was the longest and deadliest of the three, with 2,251 Palestinians killed, including 551 children, compared with 73 people on the Israeli side.
Indirect talks between Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration aimed at shoring up the ceasefire — and potentially easing the blockade that has been in part blamed for the slow progress in rebuilding — have not convinced war-weary residents.
Hamas official Ahmed Yousef said: “All the ingredients are there for an explosion: reconstruction has not begun and the war showed that it was not a solution since the situation is worse than before.”
“Gazans are being treated like guinea pigs: We are mixing humiliation with confinement and waiting to see the result,” rights activist Essam Younes said.
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