60 Palestinians Died in 2007 Due to the Israeli Siege of Gaza Strip

Number of victims of IOF siege of Gaza rises to 60 with death of infant

[ 01/01/2008 - 11:31 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

A 61-year-old cancer patient, a seriously ill woman and an infant died on Tuesday bringing the number of Palestinian patients who died in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli oppressive siege to 60.

Medical sources said that the Palestinian infant Dua'a Habib from Gaza city and Safiyya Shahin from central Gaza Strip died at dawn Tuesday after long suffering from chronic diseases.

The 61-year-old Mohammed Khader, a cancer patient, was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning after being denied permission by the IOF troops besieging the Strip to receive treatment abroad.

Death is threatening a long list of seriously ill Palestinians in the Strip as a result of lack of proper medication and the travel ban.

The popular committee against the siege has warned of acceleration in the number of deaths in the Strip.

The health ministry in the PA caretaker government in Gaza said that the health condition in the Gaza Strip was passing through its worst stages as a result of the siege, noting that 600 to 700 patients usually ask for permission for treatment abroad each month while 250 to 300 patients need urgent treatment other than the 900 cancer and kidney failure patients.

Barhoum: IOG in collusion with Fatah insist on closure of Gaza crossings

[ 01/01/2008 - 11:39 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Fawzi Barhoum, the Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, has charged the Israeli occupation government (IOG) in collusion with certain parties within Fateh faction with insistence on maintaining all Gaza crossings closed with the hope to topple the Hamas Movement.

Barhoum, in a press release on Tuesday, denied that the caretaker government in Gaza had received any offer to open the Gaza crossings, affirming that the problem was of human nature and necessitated urgent acts by all parties to end it.

Palestinian media reported that the government of Ismail Haniya in Gaza had turned down an initiative tabled by the (illegal) government of Salam Fayyad in Ramallah to end the Gaza siege and open all crossings.

The crossings have been closed down since Hamas took over control of the Strip in mid June 2007.

Barhoum said that the IOG along with certain parties within Fateh and the PA leadership were interested in tightening the noose on the Gaza Strip with the ultimate aim of toppling Hamas as evident in statements of many PA leaders in Ramallah.

The spokesman said that any offer to open the crossings would be "seriously" considered, hoping that Egypt would adopt a "daring and courageous step" and swiftly open the Rafah border terminal to allow the return of Gaza pilgrims.

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