Why young Gazans need cement to get married

While everybody has been focusing their attention on the violent uprising in the West Bank, the situation in the Gaza Strip has been glossed over and its residents forgotten. However, the constant shortage of electric power continues, with intermittent outages occurring throughout most of the day. Water supply is also sporadic, and what flows through the pipes is mostly not potable. Most water wells in the Gaza Strip have become either saline or contaminated. Private companies, which purify water and sell and distribute it in large containers to households, are making a bundle.

Additionally, there is a serious shortage of medical equipment and drugs in hospitals. Unemployment is rampant, with some saying it stands at a whopping 45%. Human rights organizations contend that joblessness has reached 50% or even higher. Yet, accurate figures are not needed: Most young people in Gaza who are not employed in one of Hamas’ governmental institutions are out of a job and feel despair.

But the most acute problem is the housing shortage. As a result of Israel’s policy on cement imports, the closure of the Rafah crossing, the destruction of the smuggling tunnels by the Egyptians and the heavy damage inflicted to buildings and infrastructures in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, prices for apartments have skyrocketed. Israel has imposed severe restrictions on the introduction of building materials into the Gaza Strip for fear that Hamas would seize them in order to build tunnels. The restrictions on the transfer of raw materials — mainly cement and iron (rebar) — first began when the blockade was imposed in 2007. However, they were ratcheted up when Hamas’ tunnel enterprise came to light. Israel’s concerns are therefore not unfounded. Hamas’ military wing — the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades — has taken steps to rebuild the tunnels destroyed by Egypt and Israel. So once again, it is the residents who are paying the price for those stringent restrictions. Officials from human rights organizations in the Gaza Strip told Al-Monitor that there are between 150,000 and 200,000 young adults between the ages of 20 and 35 who have chosen not to get married because of the housing shortage. There is no way one can get married and start a family without having a place to live, especially when the young people's parents are also grappling with the same problem.

“I want my son to marry,” said an old friend of mine from Gaza who did not want his name used. “But without my building him a housing unit, there’s no way he can get married. And it doesn’t seem there’s going to be any change for the better in the foreseeable future.”