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LUISA MORGANTINI MEP
Vice President of the European Parliamentumanitarian assistance
"While Israel carries on with its criminal
air raids on the Gaza Strip, which have killed 14 people and injured
about 50 people in the last two days, and Hamas persists with the rocket
bombardments on Sderot, fortunately without victims, another shameful
tragedy is taking place at Rafah", declared
Luisa Morgantini,
Vice President of the European Parliament.
"4000 Palestinians: elderly and ill people, children,
women and men are currently stuck at the Rafah border crossing, the
southern border of the Gaza strip with Egypt. They are waiting under the
burning sun, 42 C° degrees, without money and with scarce water and food
".
These 4000 people do not receive any humanitarian aid,
any assistance from international organizations or from the Egyptian
government.
The hygienic and logistical situation is completely
improper, especially considering that in the group there are a lot of
ill people, who are coming back from Egyptian Hospitals, trying to go
back to their homes.
Those who can afford it spend their nights in very
expensive hotels, others are completely abandoned and they have not even
the means to buy medicines.
After Israel's withdrawal from the Strip in September
2005, the border was controlled by the Palestinian National Authority
with the support of about 70 European observers.
Since June 2006, when the Israeli soldier, Ghilad Shalit,
was kidnapped in Gaza, Israel has authorised the opening of the border
for only 74 days out of 365.
After the recent inter-Palestinian clashes, that have
resulted in victory for Hamas in Gaza, Israel has decided to make the
crisis even worse, through indiscriminate raids on the Strip and
through the closure of the border crossing both for people and
commercial goods.
"This situation has to stop, but Egypt declares itself
ready to re-open the borders - the only way out to the rest of the world
for the million and a half Palestinians living in Gaza -only when the
Europeans in charge of supervision return.
Thus, completely ignoring, just like Israel or the
international community, that there are thousands of people who live in
desperate conditions for the last two weeks".
"I call on the European Union and the whole international
community not to stay static in front of the Palestinian population
which has been wounded for the hundredth time. I call on them to put
pressure on the Israeli government instead, to immediately re-open all
the border crossing points at the Gaza Strip, in which Palestinian
civilians are arbitrarily and unilaterally imprisoned and forced to
survive with no food, nor water and with a health service on the verge
of collapse.
Finally, I believe that the endorsement of this appeal by
the new elected Special Envoy of the Quartet, Tony Blair, would be a
significant signal, a first step to give credibility to his role towards
the Palestinian and Arab population, sceptical to the neutrality of one
of the main promoters of the Iraqi disaster and strong supporter of an
aggressive US foreign policy."
"The solution to the Palestinian tragedy, which is not
just a humanitarian matter, lies in the end of the Israeli military
occupation; nevertheless we must act now on daily living conditions",
Luisa Morgantini concludes.
PRESS
RELEASE
Rome, 28 June 2007
Further info Luisa Morgantini 0039 348 39 21 465 or
Office in Brussels 0032 22 84 91 51 or Francesca Cutarelli +3906
69950217
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