Gaza holds international conference on Israeli blockade

Ashraf Shannon
Press TV, Gaza

Hamas’s Council on International Relations has held an international conference on the impact of the Israeli blockade.

The event aims to shed light on the crippling Israeli blockade on more than two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

The event was attended by figures representing the Gaza government committee and civil society organizations. They discussed ways to tackle the repercussions of the blockade.

Living conditions and the standard of living in the Gaza Strip have been rapidly deteriorating under the Israeli blockade.

The Hamas movement says Western countries, mainly the United States, are supporting the Israeli blockade.

Speakers via video conference included Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine, as well as Richard Falk, the chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

Statistics show that most Gazans are impoverished and rely on handouts to survive because of the blockade.

Unemployment and poverty rates have skyrocketed under the blockade.

At the conference, attendees called for the immediate lifting of the inhumane siege.

In its final communique, the conference announced that the Gaza Strip is already devastated by the Israeli blockade and is edging closer to breaking point.

The prolonged blockade has undermined all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Experts say the inhumane Israeli practices have deprived Palestinians of their rights.

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