EB: Sure. I lived in Gaza for a cumulative 3 years, from November 2008 to June 2010, and then mid 2011 off and on until March 2013. I was only able to enter by sea, sailing from Cyprus, and by the Egyptian border crossing, not via Israel (I was deported from occupied Palestine by Israeli authorities in 2007).
Israel has manufactured a crisis in Gaza that does not need to exist. Israel has cut off Palestinians' ability to be self-sufficient, to work, to export. Israeli soldiers on a daily basis target with live ammunition (or shelling) Palestinian farmers, people living or working in the border regions, and fishers. I used to accompany farmers on their land, and when the Israeli soldiers started firing with live ammunition I and other volunteers would document, often with bullets flying past our bodies/heads. All of this is summarized, with many links to individual accounts, in an article I wrote some years ago: Observations from Occupied Palestine: Gaza.
*Screenshot of photos (all mine, except the one of me) of farmers and protesters in the eastern border region, including many targeted by Israeli snipers.
[*Related post: Canada okay with Israeli soldiers firing on unarmed Palestinian farmers, and us]
Israel destroyed the power station in 2006 and hasn't allowed Palestinians to import the material to properly rebuild. When I lived in Gaza, power was off for on average 18-20 hours a day, for years.
*Photo by Eva Bartlett, November 2008.
This affects all aspects of life.
Palestinians have to pump sewage into the sea because they can't adequately contain and treat it.
Fishers limited to less than 6 km off the coast end up fishing in water polluted by sewage.
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