Palestine (MNN) — The Gaza Strip is surrounded by Israeli territory, except for a small border with Egypt. Ever since the conflict erupted in 2006, civilians living there can’t easily get in or out. Read more here.
To make things more difficult, Israel controls the airspace overhead and the waters offshore. Yousef AlKhouri of Bethlehem Bible College, who grew up in the Gaza Strip, explains. “There are many goods that are not allowed to enter Gaza, or, like vegetables and flowers, to be exported out of Gaza. These are the main exports from Gaza. Gaza is also on the Mediterranean Sea, so its economy relies heavily on fishing. However, Israel controls the water and doesn’t allow fishermen to go past six miles, sometimes only three miles.”
“According to many international organizations, for good fishing to happen, it has to be over 12 miles into the sea or ocean.”
AlKhouri’s family only gets four hours of electricity daily, and drinkable water is in short supply. He says, “I have two nephews and one niece. The oldest is nine years old. And the youngest is four years old. Neither has experienced in their lifetime 24 hours of electricity or clean tap water. In fact, the statistics say that 50 percent of Gaza children wish not to live.”
Pray for the healing and hope of Jesus in Gaza.
(Header photo courtesy of Marius Arnesen, CC BY-SA 3.0 NO <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/no/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons)
