Gaza left without hospital, school by Israel

The 10-year-long Israel blockade on Gaza has destroyed the infrastructure and the superstructure completely, as the region is left without schools or hospitals.

A report released by the Turkish non-governmental organization IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has revealed that 500,000 students need to have at least 250 schools and new hospitals should immediately be constructed as there is only one bed per 1,000 people in the present situation.

Due to the Israel blockade, unemployment reached 50 percent while poverty rates exceeded 80 percent, according to the "Inhuman Results of the Blockade in its Tenth Year" report.

Forty-four percent of the population does not have access to food, while 80 percent of the total population lives on foreign aid, according to the same report.

"The blockade is not only destroying economic and political structure but also social structure," said Bülent Yıldırım, the General Director of IHH.

"The 8-hour electricity schedule affects daily life badly. As many as 15,000 buildings which were destroyed during the Israel bombardment haven't been repaired because authorities have given permission for only 1 percent of the total construction material needed for the reconstruction and the repair of the destroyed buildings," Yıldırım said.

"Due to the closure of the border gates and the destroyed tunnels, people don't have access to medicine, food and oil as well," Yıldırım said.

Yıldırım also criticized the lifted NATO veto, which paved the way for opening an Israel bureau in Belgium's capital Brussels.

"Turkey lifts NATO veto over Israel. No normalization can be accepted under these circumstances. For us, the most important thing is the blockade to be lifted on Gaza, compensation shouldn't be featured," Yıldırım added.

Gaza has three border gates to have connection to the rest of the world; Erez, Kerem Shalom and Rafah.

The Gazan people cannot use Erez and Kerem Shalom border gates without permission from Tel Aviv while the Rafah Border Crossing, which is located on the international border that was recognized by the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, is opened only about three or four times a year.

Cairo opens Rafah Crossing only to allow passengers with foreign passports, students and hospital patients to travel.