FORTY UN and international humanitarian agencies have called on Israel to end its blockade of Gaza, where 80 per cent of residents depend on foreign aid for their existence.
“We call for free and uninhibited access for all humanitarian assistance . . . We also call for a return to normalised trade,” they said in a joint communique marking the second anniversary of the tightening of Israel’s blockade following the takeover of the Strip by the Muslim Hamas movement.
“The indiscriminate sanctions are affecting the entire 1.5 million population of Gaza, and ordinary women, children and the elderly are the first victims. While [the poorest] Gazans are being kept alive through humanitarian aid, ordinary civilians have lost all quality of life as they fight to survive,” asserted the signatories, including the UN Relief and Works Agency, Oxfam and Care.
Conditions deteriorated dramatically when Israel launched a 23-day assault on Gaza last December, killing 1,435 Palestinians, wounding 5,000, and destroying or damaging 20,000 Palestinian homes as well as businesses, farms and infrastructure.
Three Israeli civilians were killed by rocket fire from Gaza and 10 Israeli soldiers died during the offensive.
Israel has blocked building materials needed for reconstruction and food, medical, and other supplies not deemed humanitarian. Tens of thousands of Gazans are living in tents or partially destroyed buildings.
The statement coincided with reports that the Obama administration has stepped up pressure on Israel to open border crossings into the Strip to allow the entry of cement, iron, and other construction materials, widen the range of food and medical supplies, and permit the transfer of cash to banks. The administration has rejected Israel’s demand that Gilad Shalit, a soldier captured by Hamas affiliates in 2006, be released before the blockade can be lifted.
The plight of civilians in Gaza was highlighted on Tuesday by the visit of former US president Jimmy Carter who said the blockade is a “terrible human rights crime” and called on Israel and the international community to “cease this abuse”. The Obama administration also disagrees with Israel on a freeze on Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The US is pressing for total suspension while Israel says it is prepared to halt expropriations of Palestinian land and the expansion of settlements housing 485,000 Israelis but remains determined to accommodate “natural growth”.
Palestinians and Arabs demand that Israel withdraw from all Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967 for the Palestinian state.
