WaPo Discusses Uninhabitable Gaza 

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Gaza has been blockaded by Israel under medieval siege conditions since 2007 — for political, not security reasons.

Its two million residents suffer under some of the worst humanitarian crisis conditions anywhere.

The Strip is an undeclared war theater, terror-bombed and invaded by Israel at its discretion.

Its high crimes of war, against humanity, and slow-motion genocide get generous US financing, the suffering of its people largely ignored by the West and most other countries.

For 86 consecutive Fridays, Great March of Return Strip activists demonstrated nonviolently for restoration of their fundamental rights.

Hundreds of unarmed, non-threatening men, women, youths, children, the elderly, infirm, paramedics, and journalists were lethally shot by Israeli snipers.

Many thousands were wounded, countless numbers maimed for life by the criminal onslaught — the world community doing nothing to hold Israel accountable for its high crimes — virtually granting the state immunity for mass murder and much more.

Gaza has been unlivable for years, a reality establishment media largely ignore, one-sidedly supporting Israel, ignoring its decades of high crimes.

WaPo surprised, saying unlivable Strip conditions reflect "the bleak reality facing Gaza's 2 million Palestinian residents as they approach a new year and new decade: still stuck living in a place the world has already deemed uninhabitable," adding:

"Hospitals, schools and homes are similarly running on empty, worn down by the lack of clean water, electricity, infrastructure and jobs or money." 

"Barely anyone has enough clean water to drink. The only local source of drinking water, the coastal aquifer, is full of dirty and salty water."

Unlivable Strip conditions are close to collapse. More on this below.

WaPo's article included state-sponsored propaganda, falsely calling Hamas an "extremist group (that) seized control" of Gaza.

Hamas is Palestine's democratically elected government, winning most legislative seats the last time Israel permitted an election in January 2006.

Mahmoud Abbas is the Jewish state's self-serving puppet president, a figure with no legitimacy, acting as Israel's enforcer in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, betraying Palestinians for special benefits he's gotten.

WaPo mentioned none of the above. Saying Hamas and Israel "fought three bloody wars, alongside countless flare-ups" left unexplained Israel's full responsibility each time hostilities erupted — not the other way around.

It did explain that Trump cut off vital aid for Palestinian refugees. Based on leaked information, his so-called "deal of the century" serves Israeli interests, not millions of Palestinians it brutalizes and exploits throughout the Territories — peace an illusion because the US and Israel reject the idea.

A Gazan WaPo quoted said the following:

"Neither the United Nations nor the United States nor Europe nor the Arabs are concerned with what is happening in Gaza," adding:

"All the reports they issue in order to talk…but the ink will remain on paper, and no one will move a finger" to help the Strip's long-suffering people.

B'Tselem calls Gaza "the scene of a humanitarian disaster that has nothing to do with natural causes."

"It is entirely man-made, a direct result of official Israeli policy" in place for over 12 years, the world community doing nothing to challenge it.

Rather than alleviating Gazan suffering, Israeli policies toughened. The Jewish state controls the Strip's borders, offshore waters, resources, airspace, along with movement of people and goods into and from the Territory. 

Countless items, including vital essentials, are banned because of alleged "dual-use," economic development under siege. 

Egypt serves as an Israeli junior partner by controlling the Rafah Crossing, keeping it largely closed.

Isolated from the outside world, Gazans struggle daily to survive. Half the population is unemployed, most others way underemployed, the vast majority of Strip residents impoverished, dependent on humanitarian aid to stay alive.

Food insecurity, shortages of everything, and no futures under blockade is reality on the ground for Strip residents.

Virtually all pumped water is contaminated and unsafe to drink, electricity available only for a few hours daily.

Raw sewage polluting offshore waters seeps into aquifers, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. 

Proper healthcare is lacking because of shortages of drugs, other medical supplies, equipment and spare parts.

Hospitals need generators for power because of inadequate fuel and electricity.

The Strip's most arable land is off-limits to farmers, fishermen restricted to where they can fish. 

An Israeli established buffer zone near its border is designated a no-go area, Gazan crops sprayed with herbicides at Israel's discretion, destroying them or making them unsafe to eat.

Live fire targets Gazans on their own land close to Israel's border, accountability never forthcoming.

According to the Gisha Center for Freedom of Movement director Tania Hary, conditions in Gaza are worse than years earlier because of "macro deterioration."

The "bare minimum" is afforded Gazans by Israel and the world community "to keep people's heads just above water, absent of real economic development, prospects for future growth, or a commitment to human rights," said Hary, adding:

What little is done to prevent total collapse of the Strip "cannot erase the hunger felt by thousands of Palestinian families suffering food insecurity." 

"(I)t does not mask the desperation of young men," wanting to leave Gaza for "a better life."

"It is an illusion to think that this situation is manageable. No one should be sleeping soundly at night until there is a significant shift in approach, whereby civilians are not held hostage to" Israeli viciousness and world community indifference toward their misery.

Along with increased supplies of essentials to life, Gazans "need freedom, dignity and hope," said Hary — denied them by Zionist tyranny.

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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

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