Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have received the holy month of Ramadan in very difficult economic conditions under a strict Israeli blockade that has been imposed on the coastal enclave for the tenth year so far.
The summer’s high temperatures have increased the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, who are also facing an ongoing electricity crisis, with power outages over more than eight hours a day.
Markets have also suffered an unprecedented decline in sales and commodities because most families do not have money to buy food and other items that they may need.
Moreover, about 40,000 Palestinian employees in Gaza are still not recognized by the Government of the National Unity, which was formed about three years ago. They only receive 45% of their salaries.
More than 10,000 homes were destroyed in the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2014, leaving 10,000 displaced families.
The ICC has been in touch with Israeli authorities to investigate possible war crimes committed during the offensive on Gaza in 2014.
“Israel has agreed to engage with my office and we are exchanging information,” ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said during a visit to the UN in Geneva late on Thursday. She said the ICC was in touch with both sides in the Gaza 2014 war.
Health officials said more than 2,100 Palestinians died in the war. Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians.
The Palestinians have keenly engaged with the ICC, repeatedly sending it dossiers of evidence of Israeli atrocities in the Gaza war and inviting the ICC to send a field team to investigate on the ground.
Israel has kept Gaza, a small coastal enclave, under blockade largely since Hamas seized control there in 2007.
