When Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, an Israeli-led, Egyptian-enforced blockade severely limited the flow of goods and people in and out of the territory. As a result, Gaza's economy crumbled.

Aid officials in Gaza all recite the same statistics: "44 percent unemployment, 80 percent food-aid dependent, and 60 percent living on less than $2 a day." It sounds like a script they've grown tired of delivering to passing journalists.