New-born boy brings Gaza Strip population to 2 million

The population of Gaza Strip hit on Tuesday the record of two million, the Hamas-run interior ministry said in a statement.

"The baby-boy, who was born Tuesday and called Walid Shaath, from the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, is the number two million Palestinian living in the besieged Gaza Strip," the ministry said in an emailed press statement.

The ministry said that in September, 4,983 babies were born in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip has been under a tight Israeli blockade since Islamic Hamas movement's violent takeover of the coastal enclave in June 2007.

International organizations classified the Gaza Strip as one of the most densely populated areas in the world. About 80 percent of Gaza populations live on international humanitarian aid.

Gaza's chamber of commerce had earlier stated that the unemployment rate climbed to more than 50 percent, while the poverty rate is over 55 percent.

(APD)