1,000 days of Israeli siege killed 500 Gazans

The Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip has so far resulted in the death of 500 Palestinians, says a Palestinian lawmaker as the siege enters its 1,000th day.

Jamal al-Khudari, Palestinian legislator said most of the mortalities had been caused due to the medical shortages which were a result of the siege, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported on Sunday.

Sunday marked the 1,000th day, since Israel subjected the already-impoverished Gaza Strip to an all-out blockade which has deprived its roughly-1.5-million population of their most-direly-needed requirements.

Al-Khudari, also the chairman of the Popular Committee Against the Siege said, “The siege harmed the people, as well as the environment, health, the economy and social life. It constitutes a serious attempt to suffocate the people and break their will.”

“The Palestinian economy in Gaza has been completely destroyed with more than 140,000 people unemployed, which amounts to 80% of Gaza’s manpower,” the lawmaker added.

Few construction materials had been allowed into the enclave since the destructive Israeli bombardments between late December 2008 and early January 2009, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and inflicted more than USD 1.6 billion in damages on Gaza’s economy, Ma’an reported.