APAwire - APAwire CLIENTS ONLY, Gaza - 13 April 2021. Palestinians shop at a market in the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
01.SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abo Ramy el-Masri
02.SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jamal Ahmed El-Sosoi
03.SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abo Ramy el-Bitar
STORYLINE
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are preparing to welcome the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan under the shadow of economic difficulties caused by the Israeli blockade and the coronavirus pandemic.
The unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip, with a population of nearly 2.1 million, has almost reached 50% due to the land, sea and air blockade imposed by Israel for 15 years, according to UN data.
More than half of the population in the Gaza Strip currently lives below the poverty line.
Footage by Mohammed Salem /APAwire