A/HRC/7/76 page 7 priority to humanitarian needs. According to the Ministry of Defense, the authorities in Gaza could ensure that electricity reached homes and hospitals but not workshops, where rockets were produced.7 Impact on the enjoyment of human rights 17. During the reporting period, the above-mentioned restrictions on the movement of people and goods had a negative effect on the Gaza Strip population’s enjoyment of a wide range of their human rights, notably their economic, social and cultural rights, but also the rights to life and human dignity and their freedom of movement. 18. The electricity shortages had a significant effect on the Gazans’ right to an adequate standard of living during the reporting period. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in the period from 18 to 24 January, power cuts, which were frequent prior to 19 January, were extended in duration to 12 hours per day everywhere in Gaza, except Rafah.8 Access to electricity is an important component of the rights to adequate housing and an adequate standard of living, and also has a serious impact on other rights such as the right to water, food and an adequate standard of health. 19. As concerns the right to water, during the second half of January almost half of the population of Gaza of 1.4 million had no access to running water.9 20. With regard to the right to food, as a result of the closure and restrictions, during the reporting period, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that 80 per cent of Gazans lived beneath the poverty line and depended on food aid from international organizations. In January 2008, the World Food Programme (WFP) was unable to provide any food to 10,000 of its beneficiaries and a further 50,000 received only a part of their monthly allocation. While 1.1 million Gazans are provided with food by WFP and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine and Refugees in the Near East, only 7.6 per cent of them received 100 per cent of their calorie requirements; the rest relied on the commercial market to supplement their diets. However, the lockdown of Gaza led to a further reduction of stocks in the 7 See also the website of the Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement at www.gisha.org. 8 OCHA “Gaza closure: situation report”, 18-24 January 2008. 9 The right to water is essential for securing an adequate standard of living, particularly since it is one of the most fundamental conditions for survival. The right to water is also inextricably linked to the right to the highest attainable standard of health and rights to adequate housing and food. See general comment No. 15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, para. 3.