Over the past eight years of siege and perpetual violence from Israel the Gaza strip is now a shadow of its former self with whole districts turned to rubble & many families torn apart by constant oppressive actions by Israeli forces.
The complete infrastructure of Gaza was obliterated during last summers invasion which also seen the slaughter of thousands of Palestinians with more than 10,000 people injured mainly women and children.
Many families in the Gaza strip now find themselves having to build make shift tents and huts for shelter struggling to survive the winter cold due to lack of proper accommodation or even just proper shelter from the elements.
Since the end of the last incursion into Gaza Israel has blocked the delivery of much needed construction materials. No where near the right amount of construction materials have entered into Gaza since the end of the last war.
Because of this lack of vital construction materials in Gaza the people search thru the rubble daily in efforts to salvage anything which could be useful in rebuilding Gaza & to try and get back to some sort of normality to lives which were devastated by Israeli artillery and airstrikes.
The last war also helped exacerbate further the economic crises which has resulted from over eight and a half years of Israeli siege of Gaza. Over 55% of the population are unemployed which means people have to do whatever it takes to survive.
In the next field over, Yusef Abu Kader and his cousin Saber Abu Kader, both 18, cut pieces of rebar remaining from buildings that were bombed. “I’ve worked since I came to this life — since I was eight years old,” Yusef Abu Kader lamented before adding, “But don’t be sad for us.”
“We work in places that were bombed to collect scrap metal. Together we earn about five dollars for a day of work,” Yusef Abu Kader said.
Israels continued enforcement of the siege along with near daily violations of the ceasefire agreement signed in August further deteriorates conditions in the Gaza strip.
The coup government of Egypt has also played there hand in the blocking of much needed supplies and building materials. Egypt also announced that it plans to create a 500-metre deep along the border with Gaza in what they say is an effort to stop the smuggling of arms into Gaza.
After 33 personnel were killed in two attacks in the Sinai Peninsula a remote but strategic region bordering Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal. Residents of the Sinai & Gaza have long been neglected by the Egyptian state, the tunnels that have been destroyed were a lifeline for the people on both sides especially after the last incursion by Israel into Gaza.
The Risen People 