GAZA STRIP: An Overview - Six Months After Cast Lead

Six months after Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, Gaza continues to struggle after more than 1000 people were killed, mostly civilians, during the 22-day assault that began December 27, 2008. Israel launched the assault in response to the more than 8,600 rockets fired by Hamas and other militants into southern Israel since 2001, killing 28 people and wounding hundreds.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) continues to provide basic food aid to more than 750,000...
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Six months after Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, Gaza continues to struggle after more than 1000 people were killed, mostly civilians, during the 22-day assault that began December 27, 2008. Israel launched the assault in response to the more than 8,600 rockets fired by Hamas and other militants into southern Israel since 2001, killing 28 people and wounding hundreds.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) continues to provide basic food aid to more than 750,000 people in Gaza, while other food and supplies are smuggled through tunnels leading into Egypt. Construction throughout Gaza has also ground to a halt due to the blockade enforced by Israeli in June 2007 after Hamas seized power. US President Barak Obama described the Palestinian's plight as intolerable, but that the US bond with Israel was unbreakable, while Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu recently backed the establishment of a Palestinian state, but only if it was demilitarized and accepted Israel as a Jewish state.
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