Gaza Residents Cannot Even Afford Candles

(Ma'anImages)

The continuing power cuts in Gaza have made candles a basic necessity, but many residents can no longer afford them.

Forty-two-year-old Ahmed Asidawi has been mostly unemployed since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000 and is barred from entering Israel to seek work. He is a refugee registered with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

"I don't have money to buy candles. I get aid from the agency. I am registered as a special hardship case. I have no other source of income," he told IRIN from Nussairat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Najwa Sheikh Ahmed and her husband Taher, also residents of Nussairat, recently began a campaign to help their poorest neighbours.

Najwa's job with UNRWA brought her into contact with international aid workers who are able to exit and enter the Gaza Strip, a luxury few Palestinians have enjoyed since June, when, following bloody battles which left the Islamic group Hamas in control of Gaza, the borders were sealed.

She asked international friends and their colleagues "on the outside" - a phrase used to describe everywhere but the enclave - to buy candles and bring them to Gaza. Conventional imports into the Strip are restricted. She and Taher then distribute the candles in the camp. More...