The Inter­na­tional Com­mit­tee of the Red Cross issued a state­ment about con­di­tions in the Gaza strip yes­ter­day. The Red Cross says that there has been a “dra­matic increase in poverty” in the Gaza strip since the col­lapse of the Gaza econ­omy last year. Con­di­tions were only wors­ened by the Israeli offen­sive back in January.

The Red Cross says that 70 per­cent of Gaza Pales­tini­ans are in poverty, which is espe­cially trou­bling because half of the pop­u­la­tion is chil­dren. The Red Cross also warns that the water and san­i­ta­tion sys­tem in the area could col­lapse soon.

From Reuters, writer Stephanie Nebe­hay gives us more details.

Strin­gent import restric­tions imposed by Israel are crip­pling recon­struc­tion efforts by donors who have pledged $4.5 bil­lion, it said. Basic med­i­cines are in short sup­ply and the water and san­i­ta­tion sys­tem is on the brink of col­lapse.

The human­i­tar­ian agency called on Israeli author­i­ties to lift the restric­tions and allow spare parts, water pipes and build­ing mate­ri­als into the Hamas-ruled coastal ter­ri­tory dev­as­tated by the Dec. 27-Jan. 18 offensive.

“Gaza neigh­bour­hoods par­tic­u­larly hard hit by the Israeli strikes will con­tinue to look like the epi­cen­tre of a mas­sive earth­quake unless vast quan­ti­ties of cement, steel and other build­ing mate­ri­als are allowed into the ter­ri­tory for recon­struc­tion,” the ICRC said in a report.

Israeli forces bombed and then invaded Gaza to root out mil­i­tants fir­ing rock­ets into south­ern Israel. Accord­ing to a Pales­tin­ian rights group, 1,417 peo­ple includ­ing 926 civil­ians were killed, along with 10 Israeli sol­diers and 3 civilians.

Many Gazans are “slid­ing ever deeper into despair”, with thou­sands whose homes and belong­ings were destroyed still lack­ing ade­quate shel­ter, the Geneva-based ICRC said.

Hos­pi­tals are run down, with much of their equip­ment unre­li­able and in need of repair after daily power cuts.

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