The ongoing blockade on land, air and sea imposed by Israel following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007 will enter its 13th year in June 2019 in the context of ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territory. Long-standing restrictions on movement of people and goods have led to a de-development of Gaza and have had a devastating effect on people’s lives. Today, just over one million Palestine refugees out of a total population of 1.4 million are reliant on UNRWA food assistance, as compared to just 80,000 in 2000. In addition, repeated hostilities in recent years have caused tremendous levels of destruction of physical infrastructure, loss of human life, and have contributed to serious deterioration of the social fabric. Already high levels of psychosocial stress, especially among children, have been further exacerbated in the context of the high human costs of the so-called Great March or Return demonstrations (hyperlink) on the Gaza side of the security fence separating the Gaza Strip and Israel that began on 30 March 2018.