Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israel’s military aggressions have murdered 5,418 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip during its 15-year-long blockade, Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights confirmed on Tuesday.
In a report entitled ’15 years Too Long’ marking the 15th anniversary of Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip, Al-Mezan said 23 percent of those who were killed by Israeli occupation during its siege were “children, nine per cent were women”.
“Between 14 June 2007 and 14 June 2022, Israeli attacks have destroyed 3,118 commercial facilities, 557 factories, 2,237 vehicles, 2,755 public facilities, 12,631 residential units and partially damaged 41,780 others,” the report noted.
In its report, Al-Mezan said that the “past fifteen years have been characterised by suffocating restrictions on the movement of people and goods, repeated military attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and other discriminatory and fragmentary policies and practices.”
“In defiance of international law and in full sight of the international community, Israel has imposed collective punishment on Gaza’s two million inhabitants, precipitating a human-made humanitarian catastrophe that continues to deteriorate year-on-year.”
“Israel’s draconian, stifling closure of Gaza serves to deny inhabitants their fundamental, inalienable rights as part of an entrenched system of oppression, domination and discrimination against the Palestinian people.”
“A plurality of Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations and, recently, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, have concluded that this system constitutes a regime of apartheid,” the report stressed.
Al-Mezan also pointed out that Israeli occupation forces had employed “excessive and lethal force against Palestinian children attempting to cross the perimeter fence,” adding that they had arrested 204 children.
The group said that the Israeli authorities had put in place a “prohibitive and complex permit regime” for Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza to access medical treatment.
“Between 2010 and February 2022, Israeli authorities either rejected or delayed 30 percent of patients’ permit requests,” it said, noting that the denied and deferred permits had left 72 patients dead, ten of whom were children and 25 women.
Al-Mezan has urged the international community to pressure ‘Israel’ to end its closure, blockade and collective punishment of Gaza which drives the deterioration of healthcare services and underlying determinants of health.
It has also called for prompt and effective intervention to end Israeli barriers to Palestinians’ access to healthcare services, and ensure Israel’s respect of its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, adding to “independently monitor, assess and make public findings on the compliance of Israel with its obligations under international law.”
