Occupied Jerusalem-SANA
On June 14, 2007, the Israeli occupation imposed its unjust siege on the Gaza Strip, turning it into a large prison that suffocates the lives of more than two million Palestinians in humanitarian, health, environmental and economic crises that aggravate daily as a result of the occupation’s land, air and sea attacks, which caused the death and injury of thousands of Palestinians and massive destruction of infrastructure.
For 15 years, the international community continues its silence about the lack of necessities of life, isolating the people of the Gaza Strip from the world, and killing them with the weapons of the occupation, which start with bullets, pass through internationally prohibited weapons, and reach the siege despite the continuous demands of the Palestinians and the United Nations to lift the unjust siege, which is a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law.
In a statement to SANA reporter, the head of the NGOs Network in the Gaza Strip, Mohsen Abu Ramadan, explained that the siege has caused serious humanitarian disasters and has had a significant impact on all the lives of the population of the Gaza Strip, whose number exceeds 2.3 million, pointing out that 5,418 Palestinians have been killed since the imposition of the siege, while tens of thousands have been injured as a result of the siege. The continuous Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which included the destruction of 3118 commercial establishments and 557 factories, in addition to massive destruction of infrastructure and public utilities.
Abu Ramadan stressed that the international community kept its silence on the crime of the unjust siege, which is a violation of all international laws, prolonging the siege instead of putting pressure on the Israeli occupation to lift it, calling on all the free people of the world to work to end it.
Human rights researcher Hussein Hammad revealed the death of 72 patients, including 35 children and women, as a result of the occupation preventing them from traveling to receive treatment in West Bank hospitals, in addition to the arrest of 204 patients while they were on their way to treatment abroad, pointing out that the unjust siege caused a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies by more than 55 percent. Which causes thousands of patients to be deprived of treatment.
Hammad indicated that since the unjust siege was imposed on the Gaza Strip in 2007, the occupation has carried out 872 incursions, which caused the destruction of the agricultural sector, as more than 33,000 dunums of land were bulldozed. The continuation of the occupation prevented the introduction of raw materials needed for industries, which led to the suspension of production and the high unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip. sector to 65 percent and food insecurity for most families.
For his part, the head of the Palestinian Fishermen’s Syndicate in the Gaza Strip, Nizar Ayyash, indicated that the occupation has deprived 4,600 fishermen from practicing their work freely and is constantly chasing them. Since the naval siege was imposed on the Strip, 16 fishermen have been killed, 179 wounded, and 750 arrested. The occupation navy destroyed 131 boats during its pursuit of fishermen and seized 237 boats. The last thing that deprived about 50,000 Palestinian families of fishermen from their livelihood, pointing out that the occupation is constantly tightening its maritime blockade and reducing the fishing areas off the shores of the Gaza Strip to deprive its residents of its fish wealth, which has decreased remarkably.
The environmental specialist, Tawfiq al-Banash, confirmed that the occupation deliberately polluted the environment in the Strip with various tools during the siege period, including the use of toxic weapons such as bombs and missiles, especially phosphorous ones, during repeated attacks on the Strip and spraying crops with toxic pesticides, pointing out that the sewage pumps stopped in the Strip due to the lack of Its maintenance as a result of the siege and the continuous power cuts caused the pollution of the aquifer, and the pollution rate in the water has become
exceed 96 percent.
Al-Binish pointed out that 75% of the beaches of the Gaza Strip are polluted, causing severe damage to the fisheries and depriving the people of the Strip of the beach, which is their only breathing space. In the sector, there is a need for serious international action to raise it.
Mohammed Abu Shabab
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