Gaza’s population is now 1.7 million on a strip the size of the Isle of Wight, 4,500 people per km² making it one of the most densely populated jurisdictions on earth.
Most fuel and building material was reaching Gaza via the tunnels. More than 1 million litres of fuel were coming in a day. Now there are none open. Fuel is unobtainable for most people. There is no building at all.
Water supplies will be unusable by 2016 and most now has to be boiled or treated.
Humanitarian imports are running at an average 833 lorryloads a week so far this year compared with 2,807 before the blockade. Gazan exports were running at 240 lorryloads a week before the blockade and now only a trickle of exports are allowed out. In the week ending January 27th there were 7 truckloads of carnations and strawberries sent to Holland.
Forecasts of Gaza in 2020 shows that it will have
- A population of 2.1 million
- A population density of 5,835 per km²
- There will be a shortage of 450 schools (compared with a shortage of 250 now)
- The Gaza aquifer will be irreversibly polluted, but water demand will be up 60%
There will be a shortage of 71,000 housing units