State of the Gaza Strip Border Crossings (01 – 31 March 2021)

During March, the Israeli authorities continued its illegal and inhuman 14-year closure on the Gaza Strip. The consequences of the closure are most evident in the Gaza Strip’s weathered humanitarian conditions, exhausted health system and fragile economic situation, which negatively affected the provision of basic services to at least 2 million Palestinians, who live in dire conditions in the most overpopulated area in the whole world.

Also, the Israeli closure caused a true humanitarian crisis and a catastrophic situation, as it is the direct cause of high unemployment, poverty and food insecurity rates, as the Gaza unemployment rate is 46% (i.e. 211,300 are unemployed), 63% of which is among youth. Also, the poverty rate reached 53%, and more than 62.2% of the Gaza population suffers from food insecurity according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.