New luxury mall in Gaza
New luxury mall in GazaArutz Sheva photo: Flash 90

A growing gap between a large upper middle class and the poor majority in Gaza may be fertile ground for the next Arab Spring uprising.

Arutz Sheva previously has reported that new shopping malls and plush restaurants were crowded with customers at the same time that the international community was alleging that a humanitarian crisis existed in Gaza.

That charge gradually faded away, even before Israel relaxed the land embargo that was implemented to stop the smuggling of explosives and weapons for terrorists.

Gaza is enjoying a construction boom since the Netanyahu government changed conditions for the embargo and allowed the entrance of all goods and merchandise except for those that can be directly used for terrorist activities. Construction materials, particularly cement, are used to built rocket factories and terrorist tunnels, but approval was given if they were earmarked for homes and businesses. The United Nations has since delcared there is no "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, but the rich-poor gap is growing.

The new signs of prosperity are due to a mini-construction boom that can be traced back to Israel's easing of the blockade, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The change in Israeli policy resulted in a sharp drop of prices because it caused the collapse of the smuggling tunnel industry, which made goods and materials expensive.

Smugglers told AP that the price of concrete crashed from $900 a ton to $157.  

One of the newest projects completed is the $4 million, three-story al-Andulusia shopping mall that  

The news agency said that the new middle class, many of them Hamas employees, irritate the poor by showing off their new wealth by sitting at cafes, vacationing at beach bungalows and celebrating expensive weddings at luxurious halls.

"Hamas has become rich at the expense of the people," fan angry 22-year-old seamstress told AP.  

Former Gaza economic minister and businessman Alaa Araj told the news agency, "There is a nouveau riche that has followed the rise of the government. We must sound the alarm. (Resentment) is growing in Gaza."