A new report by a consortium of British aid agencies says the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is the worst in forty years. VOA's Jim Teeple reports the report blames Israel for the crisis, but Israeli officials say Hamas militants are to blame.

幾個英國救援組織聯合發表的一份新報告說，加沙地區出現了40年來最差的人道主義狀況。這份報告指責以色列造成了目前的危機，但以色列官員說，哈馬斯激進分子要為此承擔責任。

Eight British aid organizations say the humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated to the worst point in 40 years and that it will likely get worse unless Israel eases its blockade of the territory.

8個英國救援組織說，加沙的人道主義狀況已經惡化到了40年來的最差水平，而且，如果以色列不放松對加沙地區的封鎖，目前的人道危機還會進一步加劇。

According to the report, more than one million people or 80 percent of Gaza's population is now dependent on food aid and that Gaza's power, water and sewage systems have collapsed.

這份報告說，有超過100萬的加沙居民目前靠食品援助生活，這相當于這一地區總人口的80%。此外，加沙的電力、供水和污水處理系統也都已經癱瘓。

Michael Bailey of the Jerusalem OXFAM office says life in Gaza has always been a struggle, but after Israel closed Gaza's borders last year following the Hamas takeover of the territory, things got dramatically worse.

救援組織樂施會耶路撒冷辦公室的貝利說，加沙的生活一直都很艱辛。但是，去年哈馬斯取得加沙地區的控制權之后，以色列就關閉了加沙邊境。此后，加沙地區的情況急劇惡化。

"In four weeks, 65,000 jobs were lost. Ninety percent of the manufacturing industry was shut down," Bailey said. "Forty thousand people in the agricultural industry are finding it very hard to maintain their jobs and eight out of ten families in Gaza are dependent on food aid."

他說：“在4個星期里有6萬5千人失業。90%的制造業企業關門。在農業方面工作的4萬人發現很難維持他們的工作，而每10個加沙家庭中就有8個要靠食品援助過活。”

Bailey says 300,000 people in Gaza do not have regular supplies of water and 60 tons of raw sewage is discharged into the ocean every day because sewage treatment plants no longer work. He says many schools also do not have power. As a result he says Gaza's educational system has broken down, and children there fail basic tests in rudimentary subjects. Bailey and the other groups behind the report say they blame Israel for the situation because it controls Gaza's borders.

貝利說，有30萬名加沙居民得不到正常的供水。此外，由于污水處理廠關門，每天有60噸未經處理的污水被直接排入大海。他說，很多學校也停電了，導致教育系統癱瘓，加沙兒童無法通過基本課程的考試。貝利和其它參與編寫這份報告的救援組織說，他們把目前的情況歸咎于以色列，因為以色列控制著加沙邊境。

"We are saying that because Israel is still in control, it is still the occupying power even though they (Israel) are not inside Gaza; they control all the borders, the air and the sea space," Bailey said. "Therefore whoever is in charge inside Gaza, they are really powerless to control and economy that depends 90 percent on imports for any manufacturing or productivity."

他說：“我們認為，由于以色列依然有控制權，所以雖然它不在加沙領土內，它依舊是占領國。以色列控制著所有的邊境、領空和領海。因此，不論誰在加沙內部作主，實際上都沒有真正的控制權，也無法解決經濟問題，因為加沙的制造業和生產能力90%依賴進口。”

The United States and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization and have cut off all but humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip since the group seized power there last June.

美國和歐盟認為哈馬斯是一個恐怖組織，自從該組織去年6月掌權以來，美國和歐盟已經切斷了除人道主義救援外對加沙地帶的所有援助項目。

Israeli officials have strongly denounced the report, calling it biased.

以色列有關官員強烈抨擊這份報告，說它是不公正的。

Major Peter Lerner, the spokesman for Israel's military and civil authorities in the Palestinian territories says Hamas militants who seized power in Gaza last year are to blame for the situation. Lerner says Israel is committed to preventing a humanitarian emergency from developing in Gaza - and does so at considerable risk to itself.

巴勒斯坦領土上的以色列軍方和民政當局發言人萊納少校說，去年取得加沙控制權的哈馬斯激進分子才應該為目前的狀況負責。萊納說，以色列致力于阻止加沙的人道主義緊急情況進一步發展，而且這樣做是冒了很大風險的。

"We, Israel actually, function the crossings under fire from Palestinian snipers and mortar fire, which no other state in the world would do, and for us is very problematic obviously," Lerner said.

他說：“實際上，我們以色列人是在受到巴勒斯坦狙擊手和迫擊炮攻擊的情況下管理過境點的，世界上沒有別的國家會像我們這么做。很顯然，對我們來說，這是一個很大的問題。”

Since the beginning of this year the situation in Gaza has been at a boiling point. In January Hamas militants knocked down Gaza's border wall with Egypt in a bid to break the territory's blockade. Since then, Palestinian militants have stepped up rocket attacks against towns and cities in southern Israel, leading to Israeli retaliatory attacks that killed many Palestinians, which led the moderate Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas to suspend peace talks with Israel. The talks were restored this week after direct intervention from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

There are signs that things may improve in Gaza. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel will abstain from attacking militants in Gaza if they stop their rocket attacks. Hamas leaders and other Palestinian militants have begun talks with Egyptian officials about establishing a truce with Israel. For the people of Gaza a truce would be the first good news in many months.

有跡象表明，加沙的情況可能會改善。以色列總理奧爾默特說，如果加沙的激進分子停止火箭襲擊，以色列也將放棄對他們的攻擊。哈馬斯領導人和其他巴勒斯坦激進分子已經開始同埃及官員進行會談，討論同以色列建立停火協議的問題。對加沙人民來說，停火協議可能是好幾個月以來的第一個好消息。