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Gaza reconstruction may take more than a century: Oxfam
International humanitarian agency Oxfam is calling for an urgent end to the blockade of Gaza, which has now been in place for nearly eight years
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nternational humanitarian agency Oxfam is calling for an urgent end to the blockade of Gaza, which has now been in place for nearly eight years.
At the current rate, it could take more than 100 years to complete the essential building of homes, schools and health facilities in Gaza unless the Israeli blockade is lifted, it says.
"Only an end to the blockade of Gaza will ensure that people can rebuild their lives,' Oxfam regional director Catherine Essoyan said in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday.
In Gaza, Essoyan says, families have been living in homes without roofs, walls or windows for the past six months. Many have just six hours of electricity a day and are without running water.
'It is utterly deplorable that the international community is once again failing the people of Gaza when they need it most," she said.
Oxfam says new figures show the amount of vital construction materials entering Gaza dropped last month.
'Less than 0.25 percent of the truckloads of essential construction materials needed have entered Gaza in the past three months. Six months since the end of the conflict, the situation in Gaza is becoming increasingly desperate,' it said.
Gaza needs more than 800,000 truckloads of construction materials to build homes, schools, health facilities and other infrastructure required after repeated conflicts and years of blockade, according to aid agencies on the ground.
In January, only 579 such trucks entered Gaza. This is less than the 795 trucks that entered the previous month. Around 100,000 people, or more than half of them children, are still living in shelters, temporary accommodation or with extended family after their homes were destroyed. Tens of thousands more families are living in badly damaged homes.
Despite the situation, there has been no progress on substantive talks on a long-term solution to the crisis in Gaza, which were supposed to happen after the ceasefire.
'Oxfam calls on both sides to proactively seek a peaceful resolution, including an end to the Israeli blockade, which remains firmly in place and continues to have a devastating impact on people in Gaza,' the agency said.(ebf)(++++)
