Dozens of lanterns are lined up in front of his shop in the center of Gaza City seemingly giving off the joy of the Ramadan spirit. However this image is not that joyful for behind these lanterns stories of pain and suffering hide.
Abu Mohammed the owner of a lantern shop told the PIC that the lanterns are supposed to bring joy and happiness but the reality is different and tragic.
Abu Mohammed said “I have bought dozens of lanterns which parents buy for their children to make them happy but the season seems unpromising.”
“I can count the number of lanterns I have sold on the fingers of one hand. People no longer have money. The situation is difficult” he added.
Lanterns are one of the main parts of Ramadan celebrations especially for children. This year the lanterns are filling the markets in the Gaza Strip yet children are unable to have them.
A Palestinian woman passing by Abu Mohammed’s shop said while trying to keep her child’s eyes away from the lanterns “We don’t have money to buy food let alone lanterns.”
According to the PIC reporter the situation is not limited to the lanterns as the major decline in the purchasing power of the Palestinians living in Gaza has affected the markets of all kinds of goods and products.
MP Jamal al-Khudari head of the Popular Committee to Break the Siege said that the Israeli 13-year-long blockade has left 300000 workers in Gaza unemployed.
Moreover the poverty rate in the Gaza Strip has risen to nearly 80% while UNRWA reports say that more than two-thirds of the Gaza population receive food aid.
As if the crippling siege was not enough the sanctions imposed by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority government on the Gaza Strip have added insult to injury with thousands of employees having their salaries cut or reduced by half.
All these factors led to an unprecedented decline in the purchasing power in the Gaza Strip. Many reports say that dozens of top merchants have become bankrupt and shut down their businesses.
