Palestine

Marches to be organized throughout Europe protesting Gaza siege

images_News_2014_04_10_europe_300_0European human rights organizations have declared their intention to participate in popular marches throughout Europe in protest against the continued Israeli siege on Gaza Strip for 8 consecutive years, especially in light of the Egyptian recent restrictions on Rafah crossing.

The European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG) confirmed that several human rights organizations and institutions in more than 30 European cities have declared their intention to organize marches and vigils on the 26th of April in solidarity with the besieged Gaza Strip and in protest against Egyptian restrictions on the Strip.

In a statement issued on Thursday, ECESG stated that the European mass marches came in light of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the besieged Strip due to the Israeli-Egyptian tightened siege.

The statement held Israeli and Egyptian authorities responsible for the deteriorating living conditions in the Strip, warning that a new round of violence threatens the region.

The European campaign pointed out that human rights reports issued by UNRWA and international institutions warned of serious and catastrophic deterioration in humanitarian conditions in Gaza Strip due to the Israeli siege.

More than 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza Strip are subjected to collective punishment due to the closure of border crossings, the restriction on freedom of movement, in addition to the acute lack in food and medicine supplies, the statement added.

Dozens of patients have recently died due to the lack of medicines and power and fuel crisis; in addition Gaza’s wastewater treatment plants were repeatedly shut down which led to environmental pollutions in the besieged Strip.

The unemployment rate in Gaza has hit 35.5% after the closure of 60% of industrial factories due to the siege, the campaign added.

Food insecurity in Gaza reaches 5%, where the Gaza Strip ranks third across the Arab region in terms of poverty rates after Sudan and Yemen.

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