Border closure has worsened Gaza conditions: Top UN envoy
Social and economic conditions are worsening due to the closure of crossings with Israel as clashes between Israel and Gaza-based resistance groups have increased," he added.
The United Nations' top Middle East envoy on Thursday warned of worsening living conditions in the embattled Gaza Strip due to the ongoing closure of the strip's borders with Israel.
"More than 20 vital UN construction projects for schools and housing in Gaza are now stalled," UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said in a statement obtained by Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
"Social and economic conditions are worsening due to the closure of crossings with Israel as clashes [between Israel and Gaza-based resistance groups] have increased," he added.
"I sincerely hope that the Israeli authorities will fully adhere to their commitment to reopen Gaza for construction materials for UN projects," Serry asserted.
Tensions have recently mounted along the border between the Gaza Strip, home to nearly 2 million Palestinians, and Israel.
For weeks, Israeli aircraft have targeted Palestinian fighters in an apparent return to Israel's policy of "targeted killings."
Serry, who visited Gaza on Wednesday, affirmed that the import of construction materials had decreased dramatically as a result of the ongoing border closure.
He went on to voice his regret that Egypt's recent neutralization of tunnels beneath its border with Gaza had "not been turned into an opportunity to increase the entry of such materials through legal crossings."
Egyptian authorities have tightened their control over the border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip since last July's ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian army.
In recent weeks, Egypt has repeatedly closed the Rafah border crossing, which – due to an ongoing, eight-year Israeli siege – represents the Gaza Strip's only window to the outside world.
Earlier this month, Palestinian lawmaker Jamal al-Khoudary said that the construction materials currently being allowed into Gaza by Israel only met some 5 percent of Gaza's market demand.
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