A year since the commencement of of the three-week Gaza War, Israel’s blockade of the besieged tiny strip of land continues.
International donors have pledged millions of dollars to assist the war-torn region in reconstruction, but little has been done as Israel refuses to allow building materials into the area.
This week the Israeli government, in response to requests by the United Nations, said it would make a concession and allow glass into the territory.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday voiced hope that this will pave the way for other much-needed materials to enter the area.
Operation Cast Lead killed over 1,400 people and injured 5,000 others, also reducing homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble.
On Thursday, a UN independent human rights expert underlined in a statement that building materials necessary to repair the damage resulting from the heavy bombardment and artillery assaults could not enter Gaza.
Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, also blamed the blockade for continued breakdowns of the electricity and sanitation systems due to the Israeli refusal to let spare parts needed for repair get through the crossings.
UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters Friday that the Secretary-General hopes the decision to allow glass into Gaza “will be followed by further imports of needed material for reconstruction.”
In a report issued last month, Mr. Ban stressed that the blockade of vital supplies has devastated Gaza’s economy and “has also severely impaired the realization of a wide range of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights.”
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AGORA is reminded by this video, taking account of the
“Top Story of 2009 – The Bombardment of Gaza“
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If there was any doubt to the lack of human sympathy towards its neighbour, Israel’s current stance and policies clearly shows that it has none. These are the very people that in the future, the Israelis will have to co exists with. Israel, is not only trying to defeat their enemy, but is also attempting to dehumanise them by refusing the basic necessities of life. A whole population is being traumatised. Israel and its allies are creating their own future. They should learn from their own experience. Look at the unforgettable slaughter of the Jewish people during 1930 -1945. The power and hatred that the Jewish people suffered during this period has rebounded, not upon the European Christian world who to varying degrees were responsible but upon those who were and are innocent of such a horrific crimes, the Arabs. The only crime Palestinians committed was to live and defend their own country as they have for thousands of years. As Israelis vent their pent up anger towards the Arab world the sad day will inevitably arrive when that force of anger they visited upon their neighbours will rebound against them. I can almost hear them call out “Why Us”.