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Ongoing conflict could make Gaza 'uninhabitable' within five years, UN says

Years of warring in Gaza have had a significantly negative economic impact on the strip, which might make it uninhabitable within five years, a UN agency said Tuesday.

By Doug G. Ware
Palestinian militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, take part in a military parade marking the first anniversary of the killing of Hamas's military commanders Mohammed Abu Shammala and Raed al-Attar, in Rafah in the southern Gaza, on August 21, 2015. A UN agency report said Tuesday that if current economic and political conditions persist, Gaza could be uninhabitable by 2020. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI
Palestinian militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, take part in a military parade marking the first anniversary of the killing of Hamas's military commanders Mohammed Abu Shammala and Raed al-Attar, in Rafah in the southern Gaza, on August 21, 2015. A UN agency report said Tuesday that if current economic and political conditions persist, Gaza could be uninhabitable by 2020. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo

GENEVA, Switzerland, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The United Nations' trade and development arm on Tuesday painted a bleak picture for the Palestinian-held and highly contested territory of Gaza, saying the strip could cease to be habitable within five years if the current economic and political climates persist.

The outlook was offered Tuesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which released a report detailing the harmful impact years of fighting have brought to the region.

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According to the report, Gaza by 2020 will no longer have the economy and infrastructure needed to support the nearly 2 million residents there. The problem, officials say, is the constant warring between Palestinians and Israelis, which, over time, has seriously eroded the Gaza Strip's sustainability.

"In addition to eight years of economic blockade, in the past six years Gaza has endured three military operations that have shattered its ability to export and produce for the domestic market, ravaged its already debilitated infrastructure, left no time for reconstruction and economic recovery, and accelerated the de-development of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, a process by which development is not merely hindered but reversed," UNCTAD said in a statement Tuesday.

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The report said the military operations performed in Gaza between 2008 and 2014 contributed greatly to the area's decline.

"Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants rely on coastal aquifers as their main source of fresh water, yet 95 percent of this water is not safe to drink," the agency cited as an example.

"In addition to the 500,000 people who have been displaced in Gaza as a result of the most recent military operation, the report estimates significant economic losses, including the destruction or severe damage of more than 20,000 Palestinian homes, 148 schools and 15 hospitals and 45 primary health-care centers," UNCTAD said.

Economically, the report states, Gaza is in big trouble. An estimated 44 percent of the strip's eligible workforce was unemployed in 2014, hundreds of factories and businesses have been partially or fully destroyed, and Gaza's agricultural sector has lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Gaza has long been plagued by political and economic conflict. Although some consider the strip part of the state of Palestine, the UN and some human rights organizations still consider the territory occupied. Gaza has been subject to Israeli occupation since the Six Day War nearly 50 years ago.

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