Gaza, ALRAY - International conference in Gaza that was held on Monday confirmed that the continuation of the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip is a war crime against the Palestinians and a disgrace to the world.
During the conference, entitled “16 Years of the Gaza Siege; Repercussions and Prospects” held by the Council on International Relations – Palestine, the speakers called on the international community to work to end this unjust siege, which represents a disgrace to humanity in the twenty-second century.
The conference hosted a group of international figures who have played an important role and had outstanding contributions in terms of attempts to break the Israeli occupation blockade imposed on the city.
The conference aims, according to its organizers, to shed light on the repercussions of the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza 16 years ago on the political, social, and economic levels, and to seek to activate the international and solidarity movement again against the blockade imposed on Gaza.
Figures representing the governmental sectors and Palestinian civil society, as well as characters representing the international community, participated in the conference to address the repercussions of the blockade imposed on the Strip.
“Our people are suffering in all fields and are deprived of their most basic rights to housing and medicine, and their suffering will remain evidence of the crime of genocide committed against humanity,” said Mohammed Hashim al-Farrar, deputy head of the Government Action Follow-up Committee, in a speech during the conference.
Al-Farra added, “Gaza was subjected to a suffocating humanitarian blockade, and strict restrictions and war were imposed on the Strip in all humanitarian fields.”
He explained that the industrial and productive sector was paralyzed, while more than 80% of the factories were closed due to the blockade, indicating that the electrical deficit in the Gaza Strip reached more than 50% due to the continuation of the blockade.
Al-Farra stated that the blockade caused an increase in poverty, unemployment, a housing crisis, health and financial disability, and the death of many patients because the Israeli occupation prevented them from traveling abroad for medical treatment.
He called on the international community to work to end this unjust blockade, which represents a disgrace to humanity in the twenty-second century, thanking all parties that stood by the Palestinian people during the blockade and supported them in all forms.
In turn, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif Al-Qanou said that the blockade have been imposed on Gaza 16 years ago is a human crime against the Palestinian people, and a disgrace to the world that deals with double standards, stressing that the Palestinian people will not accept the continuation of the blockade.
For his part, Khader Habib, a leader in the Islamic Jihad Movement, affirmed that the Palestinian people will not compromise on their resistance, and will face the blockade with all the legitimate means available to them.
As well, a member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front, Maher Mezher, described the continuation of the blockade as a war crime that requires all efforts to end it.
Mezher stressed the right of the Palestinian resistance to activate all options to confront the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for 16 years.
As for the official spokesman of the National Initiative Movement in Gaza, Yaghi Aed, he said that the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza is a war crime that reflects the policy of state terrorism, stressing that the Palestinian people will continue their way to end the siege and liberate their land in order to establish their state.
The conference activities include 3 sessions, in addition to the opening and closing sessions. The first sessions focused on the repercussions of the blockade imposed on Gaza, the second dealt with the experiences of breaking the blockade on Gaza, and the third session dealt with the future of the blockade imposed on the Strip.
