PCHR: SERRI’S PLAN INSTITUTIONALIZES ISRAELI SIEGE ON GAZA

Head of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). (Photo: PIC) — **Head of PCHR: UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry’s plan for the reconstruction of Gaza institutionalizes Israel’s siege on the Strip.** (Photo: PIC)

Gaza, 23 Rabi’ul Awwal 1436/14 January 2015 (MINA ) – Head of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Raji Sourani stated Monday that UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry’s plan for the reconstruction of Gaza institutionalizes Israel’s siege on the Strip.

During his meeting with the German Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office Christoph Strässer, Sourani confirmed that the UN plan for the reconstruction of Gaza in coordination with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities is a new attempt to “institutionalize the siege”.

He warned that the siege has become strategic, saying that Gaza’s reconstruction is an impossible mission in light of the continued blockade, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Palestinian human rights activist accused the unity government of not bearing its responsibilities towards the besieged Strip.

He also pointed out that the Egyptian authorities’ closure of the Rafah crossing has doubled the suffering of the people of Gaza.

Four months have passed since the end of Israeli summer aggression on Gaza, however nothing has been achieved as far as the reconstruction is concerned, he continued.

He briefed the German delegation about the human rights violations reported in the Strip after the last aggression, pointing to his center’s efforts along with a number of Palestinian human rights centers to prosecute Israeli war criminals and to document human rights violations with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

He said that Israel has practiced and is still practicing “the law of the jungle” against the people of Gaza.

Sourani pointed to the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the besieged Strip, stressing the urgent need to provide international protection for the civilians in Gaza during times of war according to international laws and the Fourth Geneva Convention. (T/P011/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)