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Gaza facing worst humanitarian crisis

DUBAI: Criticising Israel, international rights and development groups based in Britain have said the Gaza strip is facing its worst humanitarian crisis since it was occupied in 1967.

The participants of a study which included Amnesty International, Save the Children, Cafod, Care International, Christian Aid, and Oxfam, also concluded that the Gaza blockade enforced by Israel was illegal.

In January, Israel had tightened the blockade of Gaza, saying it was to deter Palestinian rocket attacks. However, critics said the Israeli action was unlawful as it amounted to collective punishment.

Israel had also, on February 27, launched a five-day military incursion into northern Gaza, killing 120 Palestinians, including several women and children.

Rejecting Israel’s justification for blockading Gaza, Amnesty International U.K. Director Kate Allen said the punishment of the entire population of Gaza by Israel was “utterly indefensible.” “Israel has the right and obligation to protect its citizens, but as the occupying power in Gaza it also has a legal duty to ensure that Gazans have access to food, clean water, electricity and medical care.”

The report, Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion, pointed out that 80 per cent of Gaza’s population was now dependent on food aid, compared to 63 per cent in 2006. Unemployment had soared, as 75,000 of the 110,000 people previously employed by the private sector had lost their jobs.

Nearly 95 per cent of Gaza’s industrial operations have been suspended due to the ban on imported raw materials and the block on exports.

Power shortages had hit hospital services badly. Hospitals are currently facing electricity restrictions, lasting 8-12 hours a day.

Power generators in hospitals are facing a 60-70 per cent fuel shortage. Water and sewage infrastructure is on the point of “total collapse.”

The report called for the reversal of the policy of excluding the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, from a political dialogue.

“Gaza cannot become a partner for peace unless Israel, Fatah and the Quartet engage with Hamas and give the people of Gaza a future,” Daleep Mukarji, director of Christian Aid, stressed.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants said on Thursday that they had blown up an Israeli jeep on the Gaza border. Eyewitnesses said the jeep appeared to have been destroyed and two tanks and an ambulance arrived on the spot.

The militant group, Islamic Jihad, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

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