Thursday, June 28, 2007

Gaza: from economic to humanitarian disaster

by Sonja Karkar
Global Research, June 28, 2007

"Gaza’s humanitarian crisis began long before the world decided that the Palestinians had to be punished for voting in the Hamas government.....

Since Hamas re-took power in Gaza after routing Fatah forces, the Palestinians there have been living under a state of siege. Israel has adamantly refused to let through some 104 boxes of basic food stuffs being provided by UNRWA to more than half of Gaza’s population, despite saying that aid through UNRWA would be given passage. Israel cites “security considerations” as the reason. The only opening is through the Karm Abu Salem Crossing in the southern Gaza Strip and its 15 truck per day capacity cannot serve a 1.4 million population in desperate need. According to the UN, at least 100 trucks a day need to be going into Gaza.

The shortages of food, water supplies, fuel and medicine are so alarming that organizations like UNRWA and OXFAM are calling for an immediate re-opening of Gaza’s border. The World Food Program says that Gaza’s food stocks will only last for another two weeks, four at most, if more shipments are not let in. Hospitals and clinics have only barely been able to function with the help of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).....

All this is being done against the background of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the continual denial of their right to self-determination in their own land. This has been tolerated by the entire world community for decades. Now, in an outrageous abuse of human rights and political intrigue, the Palestinians in Gaza are being isolated and pushed deeper into destitution and despair while the funds Israel and the West withheld for 18 months are pouring into the government coffers of the Palestinians in the West Bank. Such man-made decisions used to further political interests are a crime against humanity."

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