Aid groups appeal for end to Gaza blockade

AFP, PARIS: Some 35 aid groups from around the world, including ActionAid and Oxfam, launched a joint call yesterday to end Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is in dire need of reconstruction.
Last summer’s devastating war in Gaza caused mass casualties, killing 2,251 Palestinians, including more than 500 children. Seventy-three people were killed on the Israeli side, including 67 soldiers.
“For a whole year the Israeli government has restricted basic and essential construction materials from entering Gaza,” said a statement signed by the NGOs and posted on the site of activist group Avaaz. “Not one of the 19,000 homes that were bombed and destroyed has been fully rebuilt. “One year on, around 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza are still homeless, hospitals and schools still lie in ruins, and whole neighbourhoods have no access to running water.”
Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2006 after Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas captured an Israeli soldier, and tightened it a year later when Hamas consolidated its rule.

Aid groups appeal for end to Gaza blockade

AFP, PARIS: Some 35 aid groups from around the world, including ActionAid and Oxfam, launched a joint call yesterday to end Israels blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is in dire need of reconstruction. Last summers devastating war in Gaza caused mass casualties, killing 2,251 Palestinians, including more than 500 children. Seventy-three people were killed on the Israeli side, including 67 soldiers. For a whole year the Israeli government has restricted basic and essential construction materials from entering Gaza, said a statement signed by the NGOs and posted on the site of activist group Avaaz. Not one of the 19,000 homes that were bombed and destroyed has been fully rebuilt. One year on, around 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza are still homeless, hospitals and schools still lie in ruins, and whole neighbourhoods have no access to running water. Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2006 after Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas captured an Israeli soldier, and tightened it a year later when Hamas consolidated its rule.