GAZA, Saturday, July 04, 2020 (WAFA) – In an alarming development, three suicides and one attempted suicide were recorded in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours as a result of the poor economic and living conditions in the besieged and impoverished sea enclave, reported WAFA correspondent.

Quoting medical sources in Gaza, WAFA correspondent said Ayman al-Ghoul, from al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, died after the jumped from the fifth floor of a building, Suleiman al-Ajjouri, 23, shot himself in the head inside his house in Sheikh Zayed Towers in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, and Ibrahim Yassin, 21, died of wounds sustained after setting himself on fire a week ago in al-Shati refugee camp.

All three were said to have experienced difficult economic and living conditions that prompted their suicide.

An 18-year-old girl also attempted to kill herself in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, due to family problems after she took pills and medicines. She was rushed to hospital where she was reported in moderate condition.

Human rights centers in Gaza have warned of the impact of the severe economic and living conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip on the life and mental health of people, of whom more than half live below the poverty line, a third of whom are in extreme poverty, in addition to food insecurity among 73% of the families.

They said that the 13-year-long tight Israeli land, sea and air blockade and three devastating Israeli wars on Gaza since 2008 have worsened living and humanitarian conditions in the over-crowded and impoverished Gaza Strip, warning that unless the blockade is removed, the situation is bound to get worse.

M.K.