An NGOs call for Gaza

As I was in Northern Iraq, the situation substantially worsened in the Gaza strip. Isreali answer to rockets fired on the south of the country was an intensive campaign that costed over a hundred lives. According to local and international sources, many of these victims were obviously civilians, including 25 children. Around 250 persons were injured.

British human rights groups issued a press release saying that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has reached its worst point since Israel captured the territory in 1967.

According to their 16-page report, more than 1.1 million people, about 80 percent of Gaza’s residents, are now dependent on food aid, as opposed to 63 percent in 2006. It said that overall unemployment is close to 40 percent.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen acknoledged Israel must protect its citizens, “but as the occupying power in Gaza it also has a legal duty to ensure that Gazans have access to food, clean water, electricity and medical care.”

In a separate statement, Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme writes : “Israel has a legal obligation to protect the civilian population of Gaza. These attacks are disproportionate and go beyond lawful measures which Israeli forces may take in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups.”

French speakers can read an excellent post on Alain Gresh’s blog dedicated to the situation in Gaza (English readers will find references and links to articles in English). In English, you can read Gaza’s future, by Henry Siegman, in the London review of books. Read also the Vanity fair article about how the US administration backed an armed force lead by Muhammad Dahlan, due to crush the Hamas and that eventually contributed igniting the Palestinian civil war. “Part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs”, the magazine says.