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| PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights PRESS RELEASE |
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Ref: 147/2004
Date: 02 October 2004
Time: 13:00 GMT
Urgent Appeal to the International Community Deterioration of the Humanitarian Situation in the Gaza Strip Due to the Israeli Total Closure
PCHR calls for immediate intervention by the international community to stop the Israeli policy of collective punishment being practiced against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip, which has become a jail for more than 1.4 million people, who have been denied their right to freedom of movement. PCHR calls upon international agencies working in the region to intervene with Israeli occupation authorities to reopen border crossings of the Gaza Strip and internal roads to allow freedom of movement of persons, goods and medicines.
Last week, Israeli occupation authorities closed all border crossings of the Gaza Strip, especially Erez and Karni which are the main crossings for the entry of goods and medical supplies, and Rafah international crossing point on the Egyptian border. Since 23 September 2003, Israeli occupying troops had closed al-Matahen and Abu Houli checkpoints on Salah al-Din Street (the main road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip) for several hours everyday, and then totally closed them on 29 September 2004. Since 27 September 2004, Israeli occupying troops have closed the coastal road between Gaza City and the central Gaza Strip, thus dividing the Gaza Strip into 3 separate zones. Israeli troops fired at Palestinian civilians who tried to move between the central Gaza Strip on foot along the beach. A number of these civilians were injured. In addition, a number of Palestinian communities in the Gaza Strip, especially al-Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip and al-Sayafa area in the northern Gaza Strip have been under a tightened siege since the beginning of the current Intifada. These measures have caused a state of economic and social suffocation and a shortage of basic foodstuffs for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Hospitals and medical centers in the Gaza Strip have suffered a shortage of medicines and medical supplies due to the prohibition of movement of vehicles that transport these stuffs to hospitals and medical centers. Consequently, a number of hospitals and medical centers declared that they would not be able to perform surgeries for dozens of patients in the Gaza Strip due to the acute shortage of oxygen tubes and medicines in the southern and northern Gaza Strip.
PCHR strongly condemns this policy of collective punishment practiced by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian civilians, while Israeli troops have continued their wide scale offensive on the northern Gaza Strip since 29 September 2004, which have left 45 Palestinians, including 21 civilians, 15 of whom are children dead. PCHR calls upon Israeli occupation authorities to stop these violations of international human rights instruments and humanitarian law. PCHR also reminds Israeli occupation authorities of their legal obligations under international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which obligates these authorities to protect Palestinian civilians, their means of subsistence and their right to freedom of movement. PCHR calls upon the international community and UN bodies to immediately intervene to stop collective punishment measures adopted by Israeli occupying troops against Palestinian civilians throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Public Document
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For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 – 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: [email protected], Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org
