Gaza Strip, ALRAY – The Palestinian Ministry of  Justice has held a seminar to discuss the catastrophic effects and repercussions of the 16-year Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Held in Gaza City on Monday afternoon, the seminar was attended by government officials, human rights advocates, writers, and intellectuals.

Deputy Minister of Justice, Hassan Murtaja, said that the Israeli occupation continues to ban the Palestinian citizens of Gaza from travelling to the West Bank and abroad.

The continued Israeli siege on Gaza has pushed the unemployment rate among graduates up to around 60 per cent, Murtaja explained.

The attendants discussed how to mitigate the disastrous effects of the ongoing Israeli siege and ways to contact Arab and international parties to push for an end to the crippling blockade on Gaza.    

Tayseer Moheisen, an adviser to the Government Media Office, said that the seminar was held to "raise the alarm" about the destructive effects of the Israeli siege on Gaza at the humanitarian, political, and diplomatic levels.

Salah Abdel-Aty, head of the International Commission to Support Palestinian People's Rights, condemned the continued Israeli siege on Gaza as a "crime against humanity and a war crime", for which the Israeli occupation must be held accountable.