PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR TO UN LAMENTS ONGOING TRAUMA IN GAZA
Bethlehem, 23 Ramadhan 1436/10 July 2015 (MINA) – As Wednesday marked one year since Israel began its assault on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations lamented the damage still impacting the lives of Gazans today and pleaded for the support of the international community.
“During this somber time, we remember the thousands of Palestinian victims of Israel’s wars and crimes and reaffirm that the sole way to halt the immense suffering of the Palestinian people is by ending the nearly half century, illegal Israeli occupation and fulfilling the long-overdue inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,” Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said.
During the 50 day war between Israel and Palestinian militants, 2,251 Palestinians, among them at least 299 women and 547 children, were killed and over 11,000 were left injured, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
Many of those injured sustained permanent disabilities, and psychological trauma has reverberated among Gaza’s communities.
The hostilities resulted in the largest displacement of Gazans recorded since 1967, and nearly 80 percent of the population has been forced into aid dependency.
As rights organizations released painful testimonies Wednesday from those who lost loved ones and their homes during Israeli airstrikes, Mansour reiterated the Palestinian pursuit of ending impunity held by Israel.
The UN ambassador pointed to the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report released in June on the conflict, which holds ample evidence documenting that Israel’s attacks last summer violated international humanitarian law and human rights law and were approved at the highest levels of the Israeli government.
Palestinian leadership has submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court in order to bring charges of war crimes against Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the military offensive during a memorial held Monday for the 73 Israelis killed during the war, the majority of whom were soldiers.
“I say to all enemies of Israel — Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and IS (the Islamic State group) — that those who attempt to attack our people will pay with their blood,” he said.
Israel’s aims in last summer’s war were allegedly to stop the rocket fire and destroy tunnels used by Palestinian militants to carry out attacks.
Rocket fire has since started up again — although sporadically and not claimed by Hamas — and militants in Gaza have reportedly rebuilt tunnels.
Hamas also claimed victory after the war, but the notion has been scoffed at by Gazans who saw family members killed and who now live among the ruins of their former homes.
Analysts have argued that failing to address the prolonged misery of Gazans who have faced three wars in six years will only sow the seeds for future violence.
The Israeli blockade has been blamed for the slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza, where the majority of around 18,000 homes destroyed or severely damaged during the war remain in shambles.
“The blockade remains in place and its crippling effect on Gaza is undeniable, inexcusable,” Robert Turner, operations director in Gaza for UN relief agency UNRWA, told reporters Wednesday.
In addition to the blockade, financing of reconstruction remains lacking despite pledges made by international actors at the Cairo Conference in October 2014.
A split between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority led by president Mahmoud Abbas, which runs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has further worsened the situation. Recent reconciliation attempts have failed to heal the rift, and postponed normality for Gaza’s 1.8 million residents.
The commissioner general of UN relief agency UNRWA, Pierre Krahenbuhl also warned on Wednesday that the root causes of the conflict and damage remain unaddressed.
“The despair, destitution and denial of dignity resulting from last year’s war and from the blockade are a fact of life for ordinary people in Gaza,” he said. (T/P010/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
