Gaza man burns himself to death

A man from Gaza city set himself on fire in the morgue of a hospital in Gaza City to protest his family's poor living conditions, witnesses and medical officials said on Sunday, dpa reported.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Hamas-run ministry of health in Gaza City, said in a news release emailed to reporters that Mohamed Abu Nada, died of wounds he sustained a few days ago after he set himself on fire.

Gaza police said that the young man went to the room of the morgue at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City, poured gasoline on his body and set himself on fire. Mohamed was critically wounded and died of his wounds on Sunday evening.

Abu Mohamed Abu Nada, the young man's father, told reporters in Gaza that his son wanted to attract the attention to his family's poor living conditions.

"I asked my son on Thursday to go and look for a job because I don't have a job and we don't have any source for living," said the father, adding that living conditions in Gaza are very poor.

According to international estimates, poverty and unemployment in Gaza has reached a peaks due to a tight Israeli blockade that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since the Hamas movement violently seized control of the salient in 2007.

Abu Nada called on the two divided governments in Gaza and Ramallah in the West Bank to help him and his family improve their living conditions.