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Gaza: Suffering and hunger

The news of the most recent "run" to Gaza by a catamaran yesterday in order to deliver humanitarian goods to the Gazans reminds one of the plight of some 1.5 million people - of whom about 800,000 are children - living under perpetual siege in Gaza. It is a travesty of justice and humanity that the world has allowed the Israelis to continue a totally unconscionable and illegal blockade and siege of the very small "land" of Gaza.

IPS News reports on how diabolical things are for the Gazans:

"The World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) define food insecurity as people not having "adequate physical, social or economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs."

Palestinians vulnerable to food insecurity are further defined as "households with both income and consumption below 5.6 dollars per adult equivalent per day." Actual food insecure households are defined as having "an income and consumption below 4.7 dollars per adult equivalent per day."

In the Gaza Strip, where unemployment levels soar up to 65 percent, and more than 80 percent people are food aid dependent, the average income per day per person is just two dollars. According to the WFP and FAO, the food insecure in Gaza are an alarming 61 percent, with another 16 percent vulnerable to food insecurity."

***

"With food prices highly inflated under the siege Israel has imposed on Gaza since shortly after Hamas's election in 2006, few families can afford meats, fish, or fresh produce. The 2008-2009 Israeli war on Gaza further destroyed meat and poultry production besides devastating the agricultural sector."

***

"According to Amani Jouda, Nutrition Officer for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Gaza, 74 percent of children aged 9-12 months are anaemic, up from 65 percent in 2009, as are another 32 percent of children aged 7-15 years, and 45 percent of pregnant women in their first months of pregnancy."

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