Ref: 68/2010

This morning, Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Centre
for Human Rights (PCHR) met with Dr. Hannah Boie, Head of Press, Cultural,
Human Rights, Humanitarian and Protocol Affairs in the German Representative
Office in Ramallah.  The meeting took
place in the German Center in Gaza.

During the meeting, Sourani talked about developments at the level
of human rights in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and the consequences of
the continued siege imposed by Israel to strangulate Palestinian civilians, in
violation of the international law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention under
which Palestinian civilians are supposed to enjoy protection.  Sourani said that Israeli claims regarding
allowing lists of goods to enter to Gaza are false claims, explaining that
these measures would not resolve the ongoing crisis and will not make a real
change to the siege, because they measures do not address the real causes of
the crisis.

Sourani also reviewed Israeli violations of human rights in the
West Bank, including land confiscations, house demolitions, continued
construction of the Annexation Wall, imposition of restrictions on civilians’
right to freedom of movement and arbitrary arrests.  

On 31 August 2010, Sourani met with Mr. Fabrice Bossolivi, from
Medcins Sans Frontières.  The meeting
discussed the deterioration taking place at the level of economic and social
rights in the Gaza Strip due to the restrictions imposed on civilians’ right to
freedom of movement.  In particular,
Sourani addressed the current health conditions in the Gaza Strip, pointing to
the suffering endured by Gazan civilians caused by the low level of health
services as a result of electrical outages, restrictions imposed on the supply
of medical equipment as well as the severe shortage in some medicines.