Ref: 72/2009  

On Thursday, 17 December 2009, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) received a delegation from the Representative Office of Norway to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in PCHR’s main office in Gaza City. The delegation included the Deputy Representative, Stein Torgersbraten, and the Second Secretary, Olav Heian-Engdal.

Deputy Director of PCHR, Jaber Wishah, and Director of PCHR’s Democratic Development Unit, Hamdi Shaqqura, received the delegation. They briefed the visitors on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly, in the Gaza Strip.  They stressed that one year after the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, the suffering of the Palestinian people has aggravated and their living conditions have deteriorated under the illegal closure imposed on Gaza by Israel and the fact that this closure has prevented the reconstruction of Gaza. PCHR’s representatives urged Norway and the international community to exert more efforts in order to put an end to the deterioration of human rights and to hold Israel accountable for violations of international law.

The meeting also discussed the internal Palestinian situation and political fragmentation and its consequent ramifications on Palestinian human rights and the Palestinian cause as a whole. They also highlighted the significance of the international community’s role in urging Palestinian parties to end fragmentation and reconstruct PNA institutions.

Finally, the two sides discussed activities, plans, programs and methods to face the unprecedented deterioration of human rights, whether inside or outside the Occupied Palestinian Territory.