Expansion of Gaza slum illustrates a bleak future
Poverty is growing in territory run by Hamas militants
EL-ZOHOR, Gaza Strip — The expansion of the el-Zohor slum, where barefoot children play in the rusty skeletons of discarded vehicles surrounded by mountains of garbage, is a sign of the times in Gaza, where poverty is growing and there is little hope for the future.
While Gaza has always been poor, conditions for the 1.8 million people who live in the crowded seaside territory have worsened since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power in 2007.
Soon after, Egypt and Israel, citing security concerns, imposed a blockade on the territory in a move that had a devastating impact on the local economy. Deepening the despair, Hamas and Israel have fought three wars since the takeover.
Some areas are still in ruins from the 2014 war and thousands of people are still displaced. The United Nations warned last year that Gaza could become “uninhabitable” by 2020 if current trends continue.
But even by Gaza standards, conditions are deplorable in el-Zohor, or “Flowers,” neighborhood near the city of Khan Younis in the southern part of the territory. While Gaza’s poor generally have access to basic amenities, health care and municipal services in the neighborhood are among the worst in the territory.
The shacks in el-Zohor, adjacent to a landfill, have no electricity or running water. Piles of garbage encroach on the makeshift homes.
The neighborhood didn’t even exist eight years ago. Today, about 50 families live there.
Locals say Hamas is intentionally making conditions worse in the neighborhood to try to force people off of public property. They say that if Hamas finds electric wires connected to nearby utility poles it cuts the lines.
Resident Mahrous Zourob, a 33-year-old father of five, said Hamas imposes “impossible conditions” on the slum-dwellers.
Each family has a story that reflects Gaza’s economic plight. Most say they lost their incomes when breadwinners could no longer enter Israel to work after Hamas took power. Zourob, who worked as a laborer in construction, farming and Gaza’s smuggling tunnels on the Egyptian border before they were largely destroyed, said he used to live in a rental home but had to move out three years ago because of a lack of work.
Israel, the U.S. and others consider Hamas a terror organization for its suicide bombings, shootings and other attacks that have targeted civilians over the years. Israel says the blockade is essential to its security. Critics say the blockade, which has restricted the movement of people and goods in and out of the territory, amounts to collective punishment.
According to the U.N., more than 800,000 people in Gaza receive food aid and nearly 50 percent of the population is unemployed.