Al Mezan condemns the Israeli siege on the OPT which threatens the lives of thousands civilians, particularly patients waiting at Rafah crossing

The IOF has tightened the siege imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and prevented the Gazans from receiving food and medical supplies and fuel after it destroyed parts of the sole generator in the Gaza Strip; the IOF continued shelling the electricity generator yesterday in Beit Hanoun.
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is rapidly deteriorating due to shortages of important goods and food supplies; these shortages occur in parallel with the siege that is depriving around 160,000 government employees from receiving their salaries, which has thus weakened people's ability to store basic food supplies under the imposed siege.
The severe disruption to electricity has negatively affected the water supply in the Gaza Strip, where water pumps have stopped functioning and fuel is running out.
Palestinians are facing a serious risk of starvation and are in need of water.
Even hospitals have been badly affected by the situation, where neither water nor medication have been available and power cuts have resulted in the disconnecting of medical equipment.
A significant number of Palestinian travellers coming to Gaza are stuck in Rafah crossing since it was closed on June 26th 2006; around 300 Palestinians are waiting to enter, including women, children and elderly people, among them 21 patients who have undergone treatment outside of Gaza and need to return.
Medhat Hajaj, 60, suffers from heart disease and underwent heart surgery in Cairo; he has been waiting at the crossing since June 25th.
He used to work at the Ministry of Labour.
Some patients present at Rafah crossing are: Samar Al Hams, 17, who suffers from epilepsy, Tamam Abu Seria, 76, Taham Al Attar, 3, Hadeel Al Attar, 17, who underwent eye surgery, Naema Al Attar, 14, who also underwent eye surgery, Ramadan Al Qolili 57, who underwent eye surgery and treatment for blood pressure, Ahmad Qassab, 14 who underwent bone-joint surgery, Ali Hejazi, 26, who is disabled, Zuhair Al Akhshab, 52, who underwent surgery in the left leg, Hassan Al Sabbaki, 43, Majed Al Batsh, who is disabled, Eyad Haqqat, 21, Aisah Al Attar, 30, who underwent eye surgery, Mahmoud Mdoukh, 25, who sufferes from an ulcer, Medhat Al Hajaj, 60, who has heart disease, Nasser Zeyara, 36, who is disabled, Susan Zayara, 36, who is disabled, Abdul Hamid Shokshok, 23, who underwent eye surgery, Islam Mansour, 20, brotestata, Aya Abu Eida, 11, who underwent eye surgery.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights warns about the continuation of the tight siege on the Gaza Strip under intensified shelling operations and about the destruction of civil and indispensable facilities; it also condemns the closure of all crossings which constitute collective punishment against civilians in the OPT.
Thus, Al Mezan calls upon the international community to undertake its legal and moral obligations and immediately intervene to provide protection to civilians in the OPT, most notably for the Palestinians stuck in Rafah crossing, and to lift the siege which threatens the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, including children and patients.
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