22 February 2016•Update: 22 February 2016
By Ola Attalah
GAZA CITY
Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian territory, which has been reeling under a 10-year Israeli blockade.
In a Monday statement, the factions said that the economic and humanitarian situation in the seaside enclave has reached an unprecedented level of gravity.
"The deteriorating humanitarian situation has led to the rise of the levels of poverty, unemployment and has caused many to commit suicide," the statement said.
Israel has imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip after Hamas swept the Palestinian parliamentary elections 10 years ago.
Last month, the Geneva-based Euro-Med Monitor for Human Rights said the Israeli blockade has caused 43 percent of Gaza's 1.9 million population to become unemployed.
According to the NGO, 40 percent of Gaza's population fall below the poverty line and 60 percent are food insecure.
Fifty-five percent of the Palestinians in Gaza suffer from clinical depression and 40 percent receive water just 5-8 hours every three days due to insufficient power supply, it added.
