Friday, June 14, 2024
Elder of ZiyonWe have been told for months how the humanitarian situation in Gaza is growing steadily worse, and that this situation has deteriorated dramatically since Israel took over the Rafah crossing, from which Egypt refuses to send aid.
But the latest poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that Gazans report that they are in much better circumstances than they were three months ago.
In March, only 44% of Gazans said they had a day's worth of food on hand. Now that has gone to 64%.
The percentage of Gazans who could get a tent from the place they are staying went from 10% to 26%. Availability of clothing went from 14% to 28% in those three months.
Readily available medical care went from 15% to 26%.
In every measured category - drinking water, covers, electricity to charge phones, toilets - the numbers of Gazans who have access in their shelters has increased.
To be sure, the self-reported numbers aren't good. Only 31% say toilets are available at their current location, for example. But the trajectory is up in every single measured category, the exact opposite of what we have been led to believe by the media and NGOs.
Keep in mind that this poll was taken after Israel took over the Philadelphi corridor to Egypt, and after a million Gazans fled from Rafah to Masawi and elsewhere where the media said the facilities were inadequate.
Apparently, Israel is doing a better job in facilitating aid than UNRWA, other UN agencies and the other NGOs combined had been when they relied on Egypt for most of the aid.
The likely reason is that Israel is cutting out the Hamas middleman.
Despite the hardships, Palestinians, both in Gaza and the West Bank, still overwhelmingly support the October 7 attacks on Israel. 67% say that Hamas made the right decision in attacking Israel - 57% in Gaza and 72% in the West Bank. And 63% support a return to an "armed intifada" across Israel today, meaning terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
