UNRWA Commissioner-General, Karen Abu Zaid, Says the Israeli Siege Destroyed Life in Gaza

UNRWA: The Israeli siege destroyed life in Gaza

[ 21/06/2008 - 10:23 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Karen Abu Zaid, the UNRWA commissioner-general, called Friday for lifting the unjust siege imposed on the Gaza Strip two years ago immediately, pointing out that it destroyed life in the Strip in which half and one million Palestinians, mostly refugees, are living.

In a statement on the occasion of the world refugee day, Abu Zaid said: "In Gaza, the policies of closure and indiscriminate punishment devastate lives, causing mass despair, threatening to destroy hopes for peace."

"Palestine refugees also face exclusion from the justice afforded by international law, the aim of which is to offer the protection, security and dignity taken for granted in a world where respect for human rights and the rule of law have become guiding principles of global governance," the UN official added.

"As we commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights, Palestinians mark six decades of what they refer to as the Nakba, or catastrophe, with many languishing in conditions of exile, exclusion and isolation. This is a testament to our collective failure to give meaning to human dignity for Palestinians," the UN official underlined.

The UN official also pointed out that the international law proscribes systematic assaults on civilians, deliberately depriving them of food, destroying civil infrastructure and the transfer of people to settle in lands an occupation power occupies. She undelirned that the violation of such provisions serve to deepen among Palestinians a sense of exclusion from the protection provided by the international system.

In another related context, the FAO, the world food programme and the UNRWA said in a joint report that about 40 percent of Palestinian citizens in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip do not have access to adequate food.

According to the report, the main causes of food insecurity in the West Bank and Gaza are the arbitrary administrative and military measures imposed by Israel such as its policy of closure, restrictions imposed on permits, destruction of property, etc.

The report also mentioned that the agriculture sector in Gaza is on the verge of collapse because Israel imposes restrictions on the exports and the entry of fertilizers and pesticides.

For her part, Christine Van Nuenoz, the representative of WFP in Palestine, said that it has become difficult to meet the growing needs of the Palestinian people after the donors' contributions dropped recently, which raises fears about the health and safety of citizens.

The UNRWA commissioner-general also explained the shrinking domestic economy makes Palestinians more dependent on external aid while fuel hikes and the closure policy contribute to the difficulty of delivering aid.