Few of the 1.1 million Palestinians who live in the narrow coastal Gaza Strip believe the peace process will bring an end to Israeli occupation or lead to an independent Palestinian state. Since the first Oslo Accord was signed in September 1993, they are no closer to these objectives and their political and economic situation has deteriorated dramatically. Only a few thousand Palestinians can leave Gaza to travel to Palestinian-administered areas in the West Bank or abroad. Jerusalem, with its Muslim and Christian holy sites, is off-limits to Gazans.
Only a few hundred Palestinians among the thousands who have permits to go to their jobs in Israel actually do so. Gaza is an insecure prison vulnerable to attack from land, sea and air. There is no freedom of movement. Israel retains 155 square km of the total 365 square km area. Jewish settlements have been constructed in the north, centre and south.
At any moment the Israelis can - and do - close the road which runs the length of Gaza, sealing in the Palestinians.
Driving the 45 km from one end of Gaza to the other, even on relatively quiet days, is time-consuming and hazardous. Next to its settlements, Israel has erected squat cement observation towers from which heavily-armed soldiers control both lanes of traffic.
A skirmish with demonstrators, a fire-fight between soldiers and Palestinian militants, or a mortar attack against an Israeli settlement or military post puts anyone travelling the road in danger. Many Palestinians have died journeying to and from work, school or university, the doctor or dentist. Each and every outing is a risk.
The Israelis have bulldozed hundreds of acres of farmland and uprooted thousands of trees along the roads and near settlements and military positions. Cars and lorries are routinely stopped and searched.
Produce going to market perishes. Gaza's vegetables and citrus, the main cash crops, are dumped on the local market or rot in the fields because they cannot be sold in Israel or abroad.
Fishermen cannot put to sea in their small boats. Business is at a standstill. Shopkeepers have no custom.
Palestinians hold on to whatever cash they have. They do not pay interest on loans, utilities, school fees or medical bills. People who are ill cannot afford medicines.
The Palestine Authority has suspended development and infrastructure projects because there are no raw materials or cement.
Both the authority and the UN Relief and Works Agency, which looks after the 800,000 refugees living in Gaza, have initiated sanitation and other projects to provide the jobless with an income.
Every month UNRWA supplies 127,500 families (nearly all the refugees) with a basic food package containing flour, rice, oil, sugar and milk. Charitable institutions also make essential contributions.
Nevertheless, Gaza's chronic 14 per cent malnutrition rate is climbing. Increasing numbers of children suffer from stunted physical growth and mental development. The school day is divided into two four-hour shifts. The level of education is falling.
The damage done by physical and economic privation is compounded by violence.
Dr Eyad Sarraj, head of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, told The Irish Times: "Every single person in Gaza is traumatised, including myself.
"The most traumatised are the children. They have lost their world of security. They live in a cage with no roof and receive trauma from the sky when Israeli helicopters and planes bomb Palestinian localities and from the eyes of their parents. "Some people are in a state of panic. Every family has at least one member who is a bed-wetter - even those of 14-15 are afflicted.
"Children cope with trauma by acting it out, writing about it, painting pictures of things they have seen."
The confrontation with Israel "becomes a horrific game" which they play by demonstrating and throwing stones. They die "but they have no concept of death," he observed.
Dr Ziad Abu Amr, chairman of the political committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council and director of the Palestinian Council on Foreign Relations, said that the strategy of the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, was to "exhaust" the Palestinians.
He could not return to the pre-Intifada uprising situation, where the two sides were negotiating over Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and 88-95 per cent of the West Bank, and joint administration of East Jerusalem, he said.
"Since the Intifada erupted last September, the Palestinians have been weakened on the ground and internationally," he stated.
"The US has distanced itself from the peace process, while Europe has not become involved. The Palestinians are blamed for the collapse and for the eruption of violence. "People forget the basic element of our situation: we are under occupation. They want the occupied to capitulate to the occupier. They want us to stop shooting, but not the Israelis. No one questions what the Israelis do, why they defend themselves in such a way as to inflict such huge losses on us."