Date: 14 July 2019
Press release on the eve of World Population Day
ICSPR demands the international community to intervene in order to end the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and to address its repercussions.
The World Population Day marks a global opportunity to raise collective awareness of population issues and urges States, Governments and organizations to focus on their fundamental rights, particularly health and social protection, as an opportunity to invite leaders of the world and policymakers, to help make the concept of rights a reality without discrimination.
On the national level, this occasion is of utmost importance this year, in light of the deterioration of the humanitarian conditions of the population in Gaza Strip, due to the occupation and the Israeli siege, internal division and its consequences, which caused a catastrophic situation.
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Gaza Strip has reached 5453 people/km 2, unemployment has exceeded 52%, and food insecurity among the population has reached 70%. The financial crisis that UNRWA has suffered due to the US administration has contributed to increasing the indicators of the disaster in all aspects of life.
The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights affirms the increasing number of Israeli violations on a large scale, affecting some two million people, and their effects on a wide range of basic rights and services, including the right to adequate housing, and the right to health, education and other basic rights. The Israeli siege imposed on Gaza Strip for the 13th consecutive year is one of the main reasons for the serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation, in light of the continued Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement, travel and entry of goods. Moreover, the Israeli military operations have repeatedly contributed to the lack of adequate shelter that provides privacy, in addition to the health conditions in general, especially medicines and medical equipment in the facilities and hospitals of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which witness a severe crisis that threatens a disastrous catastrophe if international efforts do not come together to put an end to the practices of illegal occupation. Therefore, ICSPR:
Warns against continuing to ignore the unprecedented deterioration of the conditions of the Palestinian population in Gaza Strip as a result of the continuing Israeli occupation policies and the brutal Israeli siege, as well as the continuing internal division, which cast a shadow over the overall human rights situation.
Calls on the international community to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities and to intervene immediately and urgently to end the siege imposed on Gaza Strip and to pressure the occupation authorities to compel them to respect their obligations as an occupation power under the principles of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Reminds the Palestinian government and all Palestinian parties of the need to end the internal division and neutralize the rights of citizens to prevent the total collapse of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and to strengthen the factors of steadfastness in the face of the stormy challenges.
Regards,
