A growing number of Palestinian youths are trying to flee from the Gaza Strip into Israel, despite risk of injury or arrest, the Arab news portal “24” reported (Arabic link).

At least 12 such cases have occurred during the past two weeks. One youth was identified as Mahmoud Saleh, a young man from the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, who managed to penetrate the border fence before being intercepted and arrested by IDF soldiers.

Saleh’s father said that his 18-year-old son was unable to find work in the Gaza Strip and failed to earn any money for a long time. “Mahmoud left because of unemployment,” his mother confirms. One of Mahmoud’s younger brothers also tried to flee to Israel, but was quickly intercepted and released back to his family due to his young age.

“24” Arab news further reported that the number of cases of young Gazans who try to flee to Israel increased following Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, which took place between July and August 2014. According to officials, more than 130 such cases have occurred since the end of the operation.

Unemployment in Gaza stems in a large part from the failure of Hamas to provide the necessary economic and civic infrastructure for its residents. There are ongoing allegations that that Hamas skims donor money granted by Arab countries to the Gaza Strip, as well as redirecting construction materials for building projects for use in its military tunnels. Hamas was recently ranked as the world’s second wealthiest terror organizations, with a number of its leaders established as millionaires.

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