Gaza: Two years on

Two years on from the onset of Israel’s 51-day war on Gaza, life in the besieged Strip is virtually hopeless for the 1.8 million people living there. The 2014 Israeli-led offensive left more than 2,200 Palestinians dead, the vast majority civilians, and 73 Israelis killed, 67 of them soldiers.

Very little reconstruction has taken place in Gaza over the past two years, as Israeli authorities continue to deny the entry of basic reconstruction materials to the Strip. The UN’s Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism agreement with the Israeli and Palestinian governments has also failed, leaving around 75,000 Palestinians who had their homes destroyed in 2014 currently displaced.