Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Rights Groups: World has Betrayed the Citizens of Gaza


Al-Manar

"22/12/2009 The international community has betrayed the people of Gaza by failing to end an Israeli blockade to allow the territory to be rebuilt, a group of 16 rights groups said in a report on Tuesday.

The report argued that Israel was in violation of international humanitarian law by enforcing a "collective punishment" with an indiscriminate blockade on Gaza - punishing all for the acts of a few.

According to the report, Israeli authorities have allowed only 41 truckloads of construction materials into Gaza since the end of its three-week offensive last January. The report added that thousands of such deliveries would be needed to repair homes.

"World powers have failed and even betrayed Gaza's ordinary citizens," said Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam International's executive director. "They have wrung hands and issued statements, but have taken little meaningful action to attempt to change the damaging policy that prevents reconstruction, personal recovery and economic recuperation," he added in a statement.

The report, compiled by 16 international and western European humanitarian and human rights groups, was released to coincide with the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive.

Reconstruction of Gaza, home to 1.5 million people, has been hampered by the Israeli blockade that stops materials such as cement and steel reaching the territory, despite billions of dollars of aid pledges......"

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