London, ALRAY - The Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip has left its people in a "permanent state of non-life, where young Palestinians face unparalleled crises of unemployment and impoverishment,” according to a human rights organisation.

Speaking at a seminar held by University College London's (UCL) Bartlett Development Planning Unit, Euro-Med Monitor’s Chief of Programmes and Communications Muhammad Shehada said Tuesday: “Every single minute of the day is violent for Gaza’s beleaguered population under Israel’s blockade, which is a prime example of slow, latent, and attritional violence.”

Shehada pointed out that the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip is part of the "economic warfare and collective punishment" inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation.

Citing the former Israeli minister of war Benny Gantz’s 2021 remarks saying, “We will not allow real and long-term development in the Gaza Strip," Shehada explained that the Israeli occupation has pursued a policy of "stifling the Palestinian economy and development in Gaza."

"Israel drafted a plan to allow a limited number of food trucks into Gaza based on the bare minimum number of calories needed for survival," he added, pointing to the Israeli arbitrary restrictions on Gaza’s imports and its virtual ban on the enclave’s exports.

Shehada highlighted the restrictive practices adopted by the Israeli occupation to isolate Gaza from the rest of the world.

Such practices include strictly limiting Gazans' freedom of movement to mostly medical humanitarian cases, and banning foreign nationals’ access to the blockaded enclave with minor exceptions, such as some members of the international media, UN agencies, and European diplomats.