by Saud Abu Ramadan
GAZA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The 42-year-old Gaza vendor, Abdulla al-Sheikh, was fed up with calling on his poor customers to convince them to purchase the Egyptian-made stuff he was showing on a small table at Gaza's overcrowded downtown market.
After al-Sheikh lost hope that customers might buy his stuff, he sat down on a small chair near his goods-laden table, reading apro-Islamic Hamas movement newspaper hoping to read some pleasant news.
"Look! Everything is broken here, even there is nothing new in the paper about any improvement in the most awful situation in Gaza. I spend the whole day shouting and calling on customers to buy, but they can't afford buying it," said al-Sheikh.
Israel has been strictly shutting down all Gaza Strip commercial crossings for almost one month following a renewal of homemade rockets attacks carried out by Gaza militant groups on southern Israeli towns and Jewish communities.
Rockets attacks still go on, while Israel says as long as attacks continue, crossings will not be reopened and the blockade will not be eased.
The tight blockade had increased the unemployment rate to 65 percent among the 1.5 million population of the poor and narrow enclave of the Gaza Strip.
In addition to preventing all kinds of fuels, food, raw-materials and medical products from entering Gaza for one month, Israel has also stopped transferring Israeli currency known as "Shekel" to the banks.
"The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) doesn't have its own currency, so the Palestinians use Israeli, Jordanian and U.S. currencies. Israeli currency or the Shekels are used for daily life running costs, while the Jordanian Dinar and the U.S. dollarsare used in purchasing properties of lands, homes, animals and cars," said Omer Sha'ban, a Gaza economist.
The employees in the Gaza Strip are usually getting their monthly salaries from Gaza banks paid in Shekels. Sha'ban said that after Israel stopped dealing with Gaza banks and stopped transferring its currency to Gaza one month ago, the purchase power has declined.
"All the vendors in the market get tired of calling on customers to purchase goods, because the people either can't afford to buy it, or because they have no Shekels to buy anything," said al-Sheikh.
Gaza politicians said that the humanitarian situation is getting the worst ever since 1967, due to the ongoing Israeli tight blockade imposed on the enclave, adding that the population are without fuels, electricity, food or medicine.
But, neither Israel nor Gaza militants want to get back to a six-month Egyptian-brokered truce between them. The truce only includes the Gaza Strip.
The truce came into effect on June 19, and will end on Dec. 19.However, Israel continues its military operations near Gaza Strip borders and Gaza militants respond with firing rockets. In return, Israel refuses to open the crossings and transfer the Israeli currency to Gaza.
"The Gaza Strip has been without industrial diesel to operate Gaza power station for 28 days, where more than one third of the Gaza Strip sink into complete blackout every night. Hospitals, schools and basically industry were badly damages due to power cutoff," said Mohamed al-Akhras, a Palestinian human rights activist.
In Gaza downtown market, it seemed so overcrowded, but most stores are empty, where the customers say they come to the market to have a look at the expensive goods which were mainly smuggled from Egypt into Gaza through more than 1,000 underground tunnels.
"No goods are allowed into Gaza through crossings with Israel for one month, and all the goods available in the market are those made in Egypt or China and they are too expensive," said Salima Abu Tahoon, a 45-year-old mother of six children.
Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip since mid June last year, had held talks with other factions and militant groups to study the idea of reinforcing the truce with Israel.
"If there will be a new truce with Israel, I believe that the situation would gradually improve, only if Israel is expressing commitment to it," said Abu Tahoon.
