ICSPR: Everyone bears the moral and legal responsibility for the severe and unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.
The International Commission to support Palestinian Right (ICSPR) followed with deep concern the unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which has seen and continued to witness unprecedented decline and deterioration combined with a number of factors, including the Israeli blockade, continued validity of the punitive measures implemented by the two institutions of the Palestinian presidency, the deliberate and planned slowdown in the implementation of reconciliation, the abandonment of responsibilities by the Government and the collusion and silence of society.
The deterioration comes along with the continuation of the Israeli siege and the denial of the right to travel and movement of citizens especially the patients and the continued obstruction of reconstructing what was destroyed during the three large-scale military operations launched by the Israeli military forces in addition to the power crises. The crisis in the capacity of Gaza Strip hospitals to carry out their duties has aggravated due to the lack of medical materials, the acute shortage of energy supply, and the frequent strike of cleaners. The unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip registered a significant increase of 46%, of which 67% were university graduates, while The number of unemployed is a quarter of a million people as well as the poverty rate has exceeded 65%% food insecurity in families in the Gaza Strip increased by 50%. Purchasing power in all economic sectors has been lacking, resulting in a shortage of cash in the Gaza Strip to the lowest level in decades. Tens of thousands of cheques are returned because of economic collapse in all sectors. The number of traders imprisoned because of the inability to pay was also higher as a reflection of the general economic deficit, while the warrants for the arrest and debt of approximately 100,000 were received during the past year.
4,600 families in the Gaza Strip remain homeless so far, and 5,000 families live in tents or plastic houses. The percentage of potable water is 50%, while the daily power cut is 12 hours per day, and the health sector suffers from shortages of medicines and medical consumables with a deficit of up to 30% per month.
The Israeli siege of the past 12 years has created a real threat which, over time, threates the chances of 2 million Palestinians gaining access to their rights and needs, including basic services and weaken the chances of success of any sustainable development in Palestinian society. The Palestinians lose hope for a future in which they will enjoy respect for their human rights. The current humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is a fact that extends beyond the continuation measures to blockade the Gaza Strip but the deterioration of the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip is attributable to continue occupying the Palestinian territory as a situation of long-term occupation by Israel.
The human suffering and the unprecedented deterioration of the situation in the Gaza Strip leaves victim as a result of the deterioration of the whole system of life especially health, education, electricity, water, economy, trade, banks and other critical sectors.
The insistence of the Palestinian president and government on applying collective punishments against Gaza has had a significant impact in enjoying the Palestinian their legitimate rights illustrated in national law and international instruments, as well as government actions to restrict public freedoms in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is contributing to a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation and, in particular, the call to the Gaza Strip security services for a number of young activists on the backdrop of their planning to embark on protest.
ICSPR warns of the continuing humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, considering that the continuation of these conditions to resolve them would sweep the inhabitants of the strip into an unknown and disastrous fate also continuation of some collective punishments implemented by the government and the presidency against the Gaza Strip. It has surpassed that all expectations associated with the effective initiation of national reconciliation demonstrates that there is a systematic plan to lead the situation of the Gaza Strip to an unknown and catastrophic fate. ICSPR declares that it will intensify its international efforts to urge international organizations and special rapporteurs to move to put pressure on the parties concerned to assume their responsibilities adequately towards addressing the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
ICSPR records and demands the following:
1.ICSPR considers all International, Arab and Palestinian is directly responsible for the inhumane conditions in which the population of the Gaza Strip lives.
. 2.ICSPR calls for immediate intervention by the international community to end the suffocating blockade of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation for the eleventh consecutive year to ensure that the occupying power carries out the obligations contained in international humanitarian law, in particular the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to work to secure Freedom of travel and movement of the Palestinian people between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the free movement of people and goods with Egypt.
3.ICSPR calls upon the international organization in order to strengthening their existence and intensifying the scope of their operations in the Gaza Strip to reduce the potential risks associated of the inhumane situation in the Gaza Strip which may deteriorate further as a result of the United States decision to curtail financial support for the relief and works agency for refugees.
4.ICSPR urges Fatah and Hamas to move forward with Palestinian reconciliation and to assume their responsibilities towards the humanitarian crisis and its repercussions.
6.ICSPR demands the Palestinian president and Prime Minister to work hard to immediately undo the sanctions imposed recently and to address their effects, including submitting national pledges not to return to them under any pretext.
7.A ICSPR urges the Palestinian government headed by Dr. Rami Alhamdulillah, to issue clear directives to all administrative and executive bodies in the Gaza Strip to stop the levying of any taxes or fees in the Gaza Strip, which would alleviate the additional burdens placed on citizens, especially the poor, in the Gaza Strip
8.ICSPR calls upon all economic, social and political sectors to exert greater pressure to ensure that national unity is restored on the basis of partnership and consensus in accordance with the Palestinian Basic Law.
