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<font size=4><b>ICRC lashes at Israel for Gaza siege<br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>
<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=130305§ionid=351020202" eudora="autourl">
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=130305§ionid=351020202<br>
</a>Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:30:41 GMT<br><br>
<br>
Palestinians hold a candle march in front of the Red Cross headquarters
in Gaza City, April 11, 2010.<br>
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has demanded an end
to Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip, saying the move violates the Geneva
Conventions. <br><br>
In an unprecedented criticism against Israel, the ICRC on Monday
condemned the blockade for causing "acute hardships" for nearly
1.5 million Palestinians in the territory. <br><br>
"The whole of Gaza's civilian population is being punished for acts
for which they bear no responsibility. The closure therefore constitutes
a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's
obligations under international humanitarian law," BBC quoted a
statement by the agency. <br><br>
Unequipped hospitals, hours-long blackouts, lack of drinkable water,
poverty and unemployment are among the many problems Gazans suffer under
the Israeli closure of their homeland, cutting off the coastal sliver
from the outside world. <br><br>
The Geneva-based group also rapped Israel over its May 31 attack on a
humanitarian aid convoy and the killing of some 20 activists onboard the
Freedom Flotilla. It said the onslaught highlights the plight of the
Palestinians in the impoverished enclave. <br><br>
The Red Cross further accused Israel of choking off any real possibility
of economic development in the strip. <br><br>
MRS/MMA/MRS<br>
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</font><font size=4><b>Red Cross: Gaza blockade illegal <br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/201061452646659588.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/201061452646659588.html<br>
<br>
</a>The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has described
Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip as a violation of the Geneva
Conventions and called on the Israeli government to lift it.<br><br>
In
<a href="http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/palestine-update-140610">
a statement released on Monday</a>, the organisation called the blockade
"collective punishment", a crime under international law. It
described Gaza as a territory plagued by frequent power cuts, a ruined
economy, and a collapsed health care system.<br><br>
"The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth
year, choking off any real possibility of economic development," the
ICRC said.<br><br>
"Gazans continue to suffer from unemployment, poverty and warfare,
while the quality of Gaza's health care system has reached an all-time
low."<br><br>
<b>Crippling shortages<br><br>
</b>Israeli officials insist that they provide enough "humanitarian
aid" to cover Gaza's basic needs.<br><br>
But the ICRC said the
<a href="http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/05/03/gaza-list">
meagre list of goods</a> allowed into Gaza doesn't meet the needs of the
territory's 1.5 million inhabitants.<br><br>
Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, the head of the ICRC's Middle East operations,
told Al Jazeera that the organisation - which traditionally remains
neutral - was reluctant to publicly criticise the blockade. But she said
three years of quiet efforts to ease the embargo did not result in any
progress.<br><br>
"The result has not been what we expected, and we thought that after
three years the situation was dire enough, serious enough, to speak out
publicly to try to break this closure of Gaza," she said.<br><br>
The shortages are particularly dire in Gaza's health care system, where
the ICRC said more than 100 essential medicines - including chemotherapy
and hemophilia drugs - are unavailable. Many basic medical supplies, like
colonoscopy bags, are also barred from Gaza and routine blackouts cause
damage to medical equipment.<br><br>
"The state of the health-care system in Gaza has never been
worse," Eileen Daly, the ICRC's health co-ordinator in Gaza,
said.<br><br>
"Thousands of patients could go without treatment, and the long-term
outlook will be increasingly worrisome."<br><br>
In Luxembourg on Monday, ministers from the European Union met to urge
Israel to lift the blockade, describing it as "unacceptable and
counterproductive", in a draft statement.<br><br>
"The most important part of what we can do is to try and provide
support to actually get the crossings open and to ... help people rebuild
their homes, to provide for businesses, to try to support everyday
things," Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief,
said.<br><br>
Among the proposals being floated are giving the EU a renewed role in
managing Gaza's main passenger crossing with Egypt.<br><br>
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation,
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/201061432151656148.html">
released its own report on Monday</a> documenting dire conditions in the
Palestinian territories. The group noted that 95 per cent of Gaza's
factories have closed, that 98 per cent of residents suffer from
blackouts, and that 93 per cent of Gaza's water is polluted.<br><br>
Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, on Sunday
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/201061372414655594.html">
called for an end to the blockade</a>.<br><br>
<b>Hamas criticised<br><br>
</b>The ICRC also criticised Hamas, the Islamic movement which controls
Gaza, for preventing the ICRC from visiting Gilad Shalit, the Israeli
soldier captured in 2006. Shalit is entitled to visits from the Red Cross
under international law.<br><br>
"In violation of international humanitarian law, [Hamas] has also
refused to allow him to get in touch with his family," the ICRC
said.<br><br>
But the bulk of the ICRC's criticism was directed at Israel's blockade.
In addition to the health care problems, the ICRC noted that 40 per cent
of Gaza's residents are not connected to a sewage system, and that
restrictions on movement have driven many farmers and fishermen into
poverty.<br><br>
One-third of Gaza's farmland is located in a "buffer zone"
controlled by the Israeli army, and boats are only allowed to fish within
three nautical miles of Gaza's coast.<br><br>
The ICRC demanded that both Israel and the Hamas government "allow
and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage" of aid shipments to
Gaza. Hamas
<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-prevents-flotilla-aid-from-entering-gaza-1.294938">
has refused to accept</a> 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid seized from
the <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/gazaflotilla/">flotilla
of aid ships attacked last month</a> by the Israeli army.<br><br>
The Israeli government
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/201061321535573808.html">
announced on Sunday that a panel</a>, chaired by former supreme court
judge Yaakov Turkel, would investigate the flotilla attack.<br><br>
<br><br>
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