GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Three out of four factories in Gaza have closed because they can’t import or export. Legitimate businesses have been replaced by a Hamas-controlled black-market economy. Millions of gallons of sewage are pumped into the sea every day because a lack of spare parts holds up infrastructure repairs.
Three years after Israel and Egypt sealed Gaza in hopes of squeezing the territory’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers, those suffering most are ordinary Gazans.
They include tens of thousands who lost their jobs, among them 49-year-old Mohammed Maadi, whose family of 15 scrapes by on U.N. rations and whose teenage sons risked their lives digging smuggling tunnels to help put food on the table.
Even though Israel has eased its blockade after last week’s deadly raid on a blockade-busting flotilla — and Egypt has decided to reopen the Gaza border — recovery could take years. Production lines have fallen into disrepair. Entrepreneurs have moved investments abroad. Men forced into idleness have lost their place in society.
Gaza was “working poor” before, but economists say the blockade closed off any chance of development.
“We have been transformed from a productive society into one dependent on handouts,” said economist Mohsin Abu Ramadan.
Israel said economic sanctions are a legitimate tool against Iran-backed Hamas, branded a terrorist group by the West and responsible for years of rocket fire on Israeli border towns. For now, Israel only allows in a few dozen types of goods, such as potato chips, frozen meats and medicines, but bans raw materials, including construction supplies, and virtually all exports. Israel also allows medical equipment, but delivery is slow.
Maadi, the jobless father of 13, was one of tens of thousands of Gazan day laborers in Israel and used to make $40 a day as a construction worker, enough to provide for his family. Now the Maadis barely survive on U.N. rations of flour, rice, oil, sugar and powdered milk, supplemented by occasional gifts from relatives.
The Hamada clan had to close four factories, including a tomato cannery that could no longer import empty cans from Israel. Israel said the metal could be used to build weapons.
“It’s my feeling that Israel wants to create terrorists,” said Alam Hamada, 31, a member of the once powerful family. “Imagine you . . . lose everything you have — your income, your car, all that you hold dear — you’ll be a different person.”
With many traditional businesses wiped out, an alternative Hamas-controlled economy has sprung up. The Hamas government raises 90 percent of its revenue abroad, including aid from Iran and donations from the Muslim world.
