As a result, Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have been living in hard conditions. The Israeli occupation forces have been violating the right of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to free movement. The economic and social conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been deteriorating. The total siege imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities has continued to be a hindrance to the access of necessary medical supplies into the Gaza Strip. Medicines are still in special stores in Al-A rish, until the Israeli occupation authorities allow their entry into the Gaza Strip, after these authorities closed Gaza International Airport and prevented planes from landing on its ground.
Some ambulances are still at the Egyptian side of the borders with Palestine.
It is worth mentioning that the Gaza Strip started to suffer a shortage of ambulances, as a result of the increasing number of the wounded, and because several ambulances were fired at and destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces. If there had been enough ambulances, many lives would have been saved. The siege is a hindrance also to transferring critical cases among the wounded into hospitals of Arab countries. The Israeli occupation authorities have continued to deny the access of about 25,000 Palestinian laborers of the Gaza Strip to their work places in Israel. Despite issuing new permits for 15,000 laborers, they are denied access to their work places in Israel.