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The Palestine Monitor,
A PNGO Information Clearinghouse
Information Update
Humanitarian crisis in the West Bank/Gaza Strip
July 29th, 2002
The situation in the occupied Palestinian territories has increasingly worsened as Israel has tightened its stranglehold on all the towns and villages, invading and re-occupying the majority of the population centers
and placing their inhabitants under curfew; travel between towns and cities is rendered impossible with soldiers, blockades and military checkpoints on
every road.
One result of this is an economic crisis not experienced since the 1967 war.
According to a World Bank report, 70% of Palestinians are living in poverty – officially set at under $US 2 a day, and this is having a
devastating effect on all aspects of Palestinian life.
The humanitarian crisis the Palestinians have long predicted has finally been acknowledged in a report prepared by the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) and John Hopkins University. The findings, though not
yet released in full, say 30% of children under 5 years suffer from chronic malnutrition and 21% from acute malnutrition, a huge increase since the
survey was last carried out in 2000, when the figures were 7.5% and 2.5% respectively.
More than 30% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip now depend upon food aid in order to feed themselves and their families, and of those surveyed 50% need to borrow money to purchase basic foodstuffs, with others
selling their assets to do the same.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi said “other indicators related to medical treatment show the risk of communicable diseases is growing, as is the danger facing
Palestinians due to lack of access to medical care. Already 65 Palestinians have died due to not receiving medical care, and this will only increase as free movement is further restricted, and those with chronic diseases are
unable to receive treatment due to access, availability or economic
reasons.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health estimates the number of women giving
birth at home has risen from 3% to 30%, while those giving birth with
skilled health workers has decreased from 97.4% to 67%, both of which
endanger the lives of the mother and child.
For more information contact Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi +972 (0)2 2985372 or +972 (0)50 254218 and see
www.palestinemonitor.org
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As the children of Palestine prepare to go to war against the IDF thugs armed with the latest weaponry the US can supply Israel with their homemade bombs, fists and stones the shameful US president continues to blame the Palestinian 'victims' for the violence his favorites Zionist thugs promote.
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