1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are suffering severe shortages in food, fuels, and electricity due to a continuous Israeli occupation siege since Hamas won elections in 2006. The siege is also maintained by the Egyptian government.
The siege is regularly punctuated by Israeli army attacks and a complete sealing off of Gaza to any aid, most recently for 17 days in November 2008. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes slammed the continued Israeli closure of Gaza and described the situation as ‘desperate’ and ‘unacceptable.’
40% of children in Gaza suffer from malnutrition and anemia as their families depend on international aid, Arab and Muslim support. This aid is not sufficient to build the children’s bodies in a healthy, natural way. And even this is constantly cut off.
Israeli occupation soldiers kidnapped 8,000 children since the beginning of the Intifada in 2000 and 400 are still imprisoned in inhumane detention centers. The Israeli army killed more than 1,000 Palestinian children in that time. 100 Gaza children have died due to the Israeli siege. 45% of children saw occupation soldiers beat their fathers before their eyes. 47% are afflicted with psychological shock. 30% of Palestinian children under 10 suffer from involuntary urination due to deep-seated fear, and other nervous problems such as nail- biting, nightmares, crying and introversion.
Gaza under the Jewish siege exceeds the Nazi concentration camps in horror and inhumanity. An entire nation is being held hostage while the world watches and condones.
