UN:A warning from the World Bank that prolonged closure of the Gaza Strip could lead to its "irreversible" economic collapse echoes the call from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that the main Karni crossing from Israel into Gaza must open soon and remain open if catastrophe is to be averted.
John Ging, the agency's director of operations in Gaza, said the situation of the populace "continues to deteriorate".
Of Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants, 1.1 million are receiving rations which meet 61 per cent of daily nutritional requirements. The agency is coping with the needs of recipients because of large stockpiles but these will be seriously depleted by August if not replaced.
Mr Ging said the two small crossings being used to import urgent food and medical supplies cannot accommodate volumes to meet the needs of the populace in the strip, surrounded on three sides by an Israeli fence and cut off from maritime routes by the Israeli navy.
"Stopping is not an option. If we stop [ importing supplies], people will have no food . . . The Karni crossing [ closed since June 11th] must be open for a sustained period, it cannot be switched off and on."
He said vital infrastructure projects worth $93 million are frozen because cement and other materials can not be brought into Gaza.
This means that repairs are not being made to 16,000 family homes as well as schools, clinics and other facilities damaged before the May-June clashes between Hamas and Fatah. Sewage and water are suspended.
If UNRWA's projects are halted and construction and manufacturing firms close down, another 300,000 people will have to be added to ration rolls.
The siege of Gaza, imposed by Israel, the US and EU, began in early 2006 after Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislature. The siege tightened after Hamas defeated Fatah in a brief civil conflict ending a month ago. Since taking control of the strip, Hamas, dubbed a "terrorist" group by Israel and the US, has imposed law and order, collected weapons held by criminal clans and gangs and put an end to murders, kidnappings, extortion, and armed robberies.
Raji Sourani, director of the Gaza Centre for Human Rights, said there was "bitter" fighting and human rights abuses by both sides during the conflict. But these things have ended and "people are more relaxed, journalists and internationals do not need escorts, UNRWA's leadership is almost functioning normally". He said Hamas is not holding many prisoners.
"People who are arrested are held for a day or two and set free. Hamas has the records of the Fatah-dominated security bodies and knows too much, even the serial numbers on weapons handed out" to Fatah's men and clans, the main source of violence.
Mr Sourani, a secular lawyer, is sharply critical of President Mahmoud Abbas who told the ministries, police, attorney general and civil courts to cease functioning. This has left Gazans in administrative and legal limbo which, he says, "thank God, Hamas has not filled with martial or sharia law and revolutionary courts". He said human rights activists forced Mr Abbas to cancel a decree establishing military courts.
Mr Sourani dismissed Mr Abbas's call for the deployment of an international force to oust Hamas in Gaza and insisted that such a force should be sent to protect Palestinians in the Strip and protect the West Bank from Israel.
Eyad es-Sarraj, founder of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, predicted that in two years: "Hamas will also take over the West Bank" because it has "leadership, discipline, training, arms, loyalty and motivation. Five out of five. Fatah has only arms, Hamas has arms and the Koran."
He said an Egyptian security team formerly based in Gaza believes the takeover would take three weeks and the Fatah leadership would flee Ramallah.
Dr Sarraj, former human rights ombudsman, said Hamas, which does not have a strategy for ruling, "must now tackle political issues and not be on the defensive" in spite of Israeli and US opposition.
"Hamas must act with wisdom or be destroyed" by radical groups eager to move into a vacuum, he believes. This is why the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians are calling on the international community to promote talks between Hamas and Fatah and to initiate a dialogue with Hamas.
Both Mr Sourani and Dr Sarraj consider the Bush administration rather than Israel the main obstacle to peace and do not think there can be progress until there is a new administration.