Within 23 hours, three Palestinians committed suicide in the Gaza Strip amid a stifling economic crisis.
Medical sources said Sleman Alajoury, a 23-year old, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Ibrahim Yassin, 21-year-old, died of wounds he sustained when he set himself on fire at the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip last week. The third Palestinian is 24-year-old Ayman Al-Ghul, died after reportedly jumping off the fifth floor of a building.
Furthermore, an 18-year old girl from Khan Yunis tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of antidepressants due to family issues.
People on social media held the officials responsible for the deteriorating living conditions that are pushing youth to commit suicide.
The PLO’s Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) expressed concern over the increase in suicide rates in the Gaza Strip and attributed the phenomenon to “poverty, hunger, destitution, high cost of living and soaring unemployment rates.”
The rise in suicide rates was a “dangerous indicator that harms Palestinian society and threatens its social fabric,” a statement read.
DFLP held Hamas and the Palestinian Authority – in Gaza and Ramallah - fully responsible for the “terrible economic and social deterioration, as well as the continued violation of public freedoms and democracy and the absence of social justice.”
It stressed the dire need to put an end to this terrible situation and the rise in suicide rates, calling for implementing effective measures in this regard. DFLP further urged a responsible national plan to reinforce the internal immunity against the decaying economic and living conditions.
