from PSC, 28th March 2008

As the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen in Gaza, the statements from Israeli army spokespeople and ministers continue to be issued warning of further military interventions and a full scale invasion of Gaza.

International protests are continuing to take place against the siege of Gaza and the increasing horrific death toll. In Israel’s operation that it named ‘Operation Warm Winter’, the Israeli army killed 120 in Gaza between 27 February and 3 March, 60 on one day alone. A quarter of those killed that week were children. The death toll as a result of those delayed or denied access to essential treatment outside Gaza reached 117 by 25 March.

Organisations working on the ground including Christian Aid, Save the Children, Amnesty and Oxfam have released a report, called The Gaza Strip — a humanitarian implosion. The report explains that ‘the situation for 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is worse now than it has ever been since the start of the Israeli military occupation in 1967.’ It says the humanitarian crisis is a ‘direct result of on-going collective punishment of ordinary men, women and children’ which ‘is illegal under international law’. Movement in and out of Gaza is ‘all but impossible’ and the report says supplies of food and water, sewage treatment, and basic healthcare ‘can no longer be taken for granted’. Hospitals cannot generate electricity to keep essential equipment working, and sewage is flowing through streets and into the sea.

See the report here.