The international platform of organizations working for Palestine “I Palstein” denounced the policy of collective punishment, which is used by the Israeli occupation authorities as a routine measure against Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip, which is witnessing an economic blockade for the 14th consecutive year.
وفي هذا السياق، فقد أعلن منسق أعمال حكومة الاحتلال في الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة، مساء يوم الأربعاء 12/8/2020م عن إجراءات جديدة لتشديد الحصار المفروض على القطاع، تتمثل في فرض قيود على دخول وخروج البضائع من (معبر كرم أبو سالم التجاري) وهو المعبر الوحيد المخصص لنقل البضائع من وإلى قطاع غزة، ووقف إدخال الوقود والإسمنت، وتقليص مساحة الصيد، الأمر الذي يُدخل القطاع في معاناة مضاعفة، خاصة في ظل العجز الذي يعاني منه جرّاء تفشي فيروس (كورونا) وإغلاق كافة المداخل والمخارج مع العالم الخارجي، والانهيار الاقتصادي، وتدهور الوضع الصحي، وتحديات التعليم.
She said: The Gaza Strip has been suffering since 2006 from a strict Israeli blockade, which has led to an unprecedented deterioration in economic conditions and living standards, widespread unemployment and poverty, and its repercussions further in light of the Corona pandemic, as the unemployment rate, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, reached 52% The poverty rate among Gaza’s residents increased to 53%, and the available data showed that 68.5% of families suffer from food insecurity, and according to UNRWA, nearly 80% of the population depends on food aid. It is also expected that, after the occupation authorities’ decision to prevent the entry of fuel into the sector, the electricity crisis will worsen, with a deficit rate of 76%, which leads to high hours of power cuts in the homes of citizens. So the number of hours of interruption reaches 18 hours a day.
She emphasized that the new Israeli measures aimed at tightening the siege on the Gaza Strip at the time of (Corona), will achieve what was expected by the United Nations report issued in 2012 AD, in which it was stated that the sector will not be suitable for living in it by the year 2020 AD, and accordingly, “I Palstine” warns against The Gaza Strip will witness a real humanitarian catastrophe that citizens will not be able to endure during the coming weeks, especially in light of the presence of thousands of citizens in quarantine places, and they urgently need ventilation, clean water, and permanent health care, and in the event that the Israeli authorities do not reverse their decision to prevent the entry of fuel The suffering of the citizens, especially the quarantined ones, will be doubled.
I Palstein affirmed that the new Israeli measures against the Gaza Strip come under the framework of tightening the Israeli blockade imposed on it, which is a form of collective punishment prohibited in international law, as Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates that “collective punishment and likewise all measures are prohibited. Threat or terrorism. ”The First Additional Protocol of 1977 also stated in Article 54 that starvation of the civilian population is prohibited as a method of warfare.
It also constitutes a model for the occupation authorities’ violation of their duty as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and the First Additional Protocol of 1977 relating to international armed conflicts. I Palstein notes that it is the duty of the occupying power, according to international agreements, to provide the residents of the Gaza Strip with the necessary food and medical supplies. Conditions of public health and ensuring the functioning of medical facilities
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