BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Fifty international charities and UN agencies called Thursday on Israel to lift its years-long blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Marking the fifth anniversary of the siege, the organizations -- among them Amnesty International, Médecins du Monde, Oxfam, and Save the Children -- joined agencies like the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights UNICEF and four other UN agencies in urging Israel to lift the siege "now."
"For over five years in Gaza, more than 1.6 million people have been under blockade in violation of international law. More than half of these people are children. We the undersigned say with one voice: 'end the blockade now,'" the petition said.
Israel imposed restrictions on trade to Gaza in 2001 following the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising and tightened them further in 2007 after Hamas took over in the coastal enclave adjacent to Egypt, which also enforces a blockade. more
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