The 1.3m Palestinians in mostly filthy, overcrowded refugee camps have lived under crippling Israeli-imposed closures, isolated from the rest of the world. With both exports to and employment in Israel cut off, the jobless rate is said to be reaching 60 per cent. The army does everything to protect the Jewish property while destroying the property belonging to the Palestinians. Yet few predict that Gaza will, as Israel hopes, put on any pressure for an end to armed attacks. It's the more militant part of Palestinian society.
People here have a sharp edge and they have nothing to lose.
The PA, under international pressure to bring an end to the uprising and facing fiscal collapse and institutional paralysis, is itself being challenged in Gaza - a process that could lead to more dangerous chaos. Social deprivation is leading to increased criticism of the PA's corruption and eroding faith in its ability to deliver any benefits at all as a result of the uprising. The PA's authority is also being challenged more directly. When Palestinian police arrested two people in an apparent security crackdown last month in Jabalia, residents marched to the police station the next day and won their release. Last October, two-fifths of his agricultural land was taken over by the Israeli army to expand the security ring around the settlement.