UN terms complete blockade of Gaza against international law

The United Nation’s human rights commissioner said on Tuesday that Israel´s total siege of the Gaza Strip, depriving civilians of goods essential for survival, is banned under international law.

• 200,000 displaced in Gaza, water shortages expected
• At least 770 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes
• 900 Israelis left dead in Hamas strikes

The statement from the UN comes a day after Israel imposed of a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Israel has cut off electricity, water food supply, and fuel, and called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists, raising fears it planned a ground assault.

Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said people’s dignity and lives had to be respected as he called for all sides to defuse the “explosive powder-keg situation”.

“International humanitarian law is clear: the obligation to take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects remains applicable throughout the attacks,” Turk said in a statement.

The siege risk seriously compounding the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the capacity of medical facilities to operate, especially in light of increasing numbers of injured, the statement added.

“The imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law,” Turk said.

Israel’s offensive will lead to a further increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in the region.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 770 Palestinians have been killed and 4,000 wounded in Israeli air strikes since Saturday.

At least another 18 people were killed and 100 injured in the West Bank since Saturday, the ministry added.

More than 123,000 people have been displaced in Gaza in the last three days!

Gaza is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, who have lived under a crippling Israeli blockade for the last 16 years, imposed after Hamas took power in 2007.

United Nations in a statement on Monday said that more than 123,000 people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip since fighting began.

“Over 123,538 people, have been internally displaced in Gaza, mostly due to fear, protection concerns, and the destruction of their homes,” said the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA.

More than 73,000 are sheltering in schools, OCHA said, adding some of which have been designated emergency shelters.

Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said he expects that the numbers to rise further.