Power blackout in the Beach Refugee Camp, Gaza City

17 November 2008

Oxfam's Mohammed Ali Abu Najela reports from the Gaza Strip.

Umm Ibrahim and her husband sit in their small grocery in Gaza's 'Beach' refugee camp after 13 hours of a power blackout. "There's been a power blackout since 6am and now it's 7pm. The power came back on only for 30 minutes and I rushed to make bread for my children, but before I was finished baking, the power cut again and the bread was ruined," Un Ibrahim said.

The couple is expecting the situation to worsen. Israel closed the crossings most fuel, goods and humanitarian supplies into Gaza since the 5th of November.

"If UN can't deliver food aid, people in Gaza will be even worse off. People have no money to buy food. The price of food has increased due to the closure because the there are limited quantities left in the market," her husband added.

Mohammed Musalam, 39 years old, sits outside his home in the dark. A father of nine, he has been unemployed since the Israeli blockade started nearly 18 months ago. He is totally dependent on charity and assistance from aid agencies.

"I wait day-by-day to get food supplies from the UN. These supplies mean life itself for me and my family. The latest Israeli closure is tightening our lives even more. I am sitting outside my dark home because I feel like I am suffocating from the way we are living.

"The blockade does not only target Hamas, but it also targets my children's food, water, ability to study and now even the food aid we rely on from relief agencies," Mohammed said.

"My mother is an old woman who suffers from many diseases and the only source of medicine for her is from the UN. If that stops, there will be no way for me to buy her the medicine she needs. Israel has turned me into a disabled person who cannot provide his own family with the basics that they need," he added

"I have not been cooking with gas since the start of the blockade because of shortages, and I bought a small electric water heater. We have been using it for cooking. Now that we don't have electricity, I have been burning wood to cook for my children. In other words, the Israeli blockade is taking us back to a primitive age."

One of the places affected by the Gaza blackout is Masoud Pharmacy in Gaza city. The owner of the pharmacy has been sitting by gaslight for hours. He explained that since the start of the Israeli blockade, business has decreased by more than 80 per cent, and more than 50 per cent of vital drugs are no longer available.

"We already have a great deal of problems because of the Israeli blockade. You can imagine what it is like now without electricity too. People in Gaza are totally dependent on the free medical treatment and medicine provided by aid agencies. Even if UNRWA stopped their operation in Gaza due to the recent closure, people would not come and buy medicine here, simply because they don't have the money," the owner said.

"All the drugs that need to be stored in a cold place would have expired by now because there is no electricity. I thought of buying a power generator but then how I would I find the petrol to generate it?"

Abu Rami, a 40-year-old man who is the breadwinner for 22 people, sits in the dim light at Masoud Pharmacy. All 22 of his dependents live in his home: eight of his own children, his wife, his mother and father, and his dead brothers' children and their mothers. Abu Rami has come to the pharmacy to buy medicine for his sick mother on credit. He used to work inside Israel, but for over four years he has been unemployed, and he depends on the money that a brother sends them from abroad. It does not cover even the minimum basics for all 22 people.

"The price of everything has tripled as compared to the time before the Israeli blockade began. It's no wonder the price of food has increased because of this latest closure. Our main problem is that we don't see an end to our suffering and hard life anytime soon."