Gaza's children peddle their wares on streets to help make ends meet

Gaza: In the crowded Saha crossroad at the centre of Gaza City, 13-year-old Shadi Hamouda dodges vehicles to sell cigarettes and handkerchiefs to drivers.

"I am the source of living for my 9-member family," Hamouda said. "I work every day, all week, and I get about 20 shekels (Dh18.35) a day. At home, we almost never eat meat, maybe once [in] two or three months."

There are thousands of similar struggling families who make ends meet by selling cigarettes and candy.

"If you are shy, you will not sell what you have and you may get beaten by your father if you return & home without money," Hamouda said.

Since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada in 2001, the Palestinian economy started to deteriorate and led the Palestinians, especially in Gaza, to face harsh poverty and unemployment.

In the last two years, unemployment in Gaza reached 65 per cent and poverty exceeded 80 per cent, according to the Gaza Social Affairs Ministry.

The increasing poverty led to a growing number of Palestinian children who roam the streets of Gaza looking for small ways to help support their families.

Palestinian officials said they expect unemployment to rise in the next couple of months if job opportunities were not created.

More than 85 per cent of Gazan families depend on aid from United Nations Work and Relief Agency (UNRWA) and other international and local agencies working in Gaza Strip.

The UN agency has increased the amount of food aid to refugees in the Gaza Strip because of the desperate situation there.

The agency helps to provide education, health care, social services and emergency aid.

It is unique in terms of its long-standing commitment to one group of refugees and its contributions to the welfare and human development of four generations of Palestinian refugees.

Since Hamas won elections in January 2006, Israel, the EU and the US have stopped direct aid to the region leading to economic free fall.

However the situation worsened after the movement forcibly took over Gaza Strip.

Severe food insecurity in the Gaza Strip has resulted in some young residents turning to theft and others to work in hazardous conditions. According to the World Bank, the economic stagnation of the Gaza Strip does not augur well for the whole Palestinian region.

Gaza represents about 40 per cent of the Palestinian population and is an integral part of the Palestinian economy and identity.

"The high level of unemployment in Gaza was a major cause of [child] labour because their parents can't provide [for] them&," said Ahmad Al Kurd, the Social Affairs Minister in the Hamas government.

"The Gaza Strip can be described as nothing less than a basket case after years of isolation on top of the recent siege which has all but starved the tiny Strip," the minister said.

"There's no doubt that the crisis in Gaza is closely tied to Israel's siege of the territory," he added.

"The very minimum of food that is allowed in, the severe restrictions on electricity and fuel, the inability of Gazans to leave the territory for work or school, and their inability to import needed goods or to export products all mean that Gazans are forced to live at or below subsistence levels."

"Israel's closure policy constitutes unlawful collective punishment, in violation of international law," Al Kurd said.

The minister said that his government is working to provide as much as they can to Gazans who cannot earn their living, and especially to orphans and families of war victims.

The minister said that his ministry also provided jobs through the temporary job creation programme.

But despite all the efforts from various organisations, the situation remains grim for Gazans.