Ref: 26 / 2010

On Monday morning, 01 March 2010, the Palestinian Center for Human
Rights (PCHR) received Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, in its
main office in Gaza City.

Mr. Grandi met with Mr. Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR, and members of
the board of directors, who expressed PCHR’s high appreciation for Mr. Grandi’s
visit, confirming the significant relationship between PCHR and the UNRWA. PCHR’s representatives also appreciated the
role played by this international organization and its personnel and their
courageous stances, as they have been able to tell the truth and show it in a
time when the whole world was silent. Besides, they highlighted the services provided by UNRWA to large
sectors of the Palestinian people.

During the meeting, Sourani discussed the latest developments related to
the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT),
highlighting crimes committed by Israel
against civilians and their property. He
explained that this level of crimes has been unprecedented since the
Palestinian Nakba of 1948 (the uprooting of the Palestinian people from their
land).

In addition, Sourani talked about the illegal siege imposed on the Gaza
Strip, emphasizing that it is the most serious crime committed by Israel. He considered that the Palestinian civilians
the only victim of the siege, which is humiliating and degrading; consequently,
Palestinians have become jobless despite their high qualifications and
skills. He also affirmed that targeting
civilians and violating their rights before the eyes of the whole world is inconceivable.

Sourani called on UNRWA, through international pressure in UN bodies on
Israel, to search for urgent solutions to meet the increasing needs in the
education sector, and reconstruction and rehabilitation of houses. 

Sourani further talked about Israeli crimes committed in the West Bank
and confirmed that the situation in the West Bank is not better than that in
the Gaza Strip, due to the ongoing efforts to create a Jewish majority in
Jerusalem, settlement activities, confiscation of lands, construction of the
Annexation Wall, and bypass roads, as well as checkpoints that cut off the West
Bank.

At another level, Sourani expressed regret for the failure of
reconciliation efforts, discussing the most prominent developments relevant to
the internal situation. They stated that
the Palestinian people live under the worst conditions ever due to the internal
fragmentation.