Hamas Spokesman Hails UN Report on Israeli Blockade of Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas hailed the United Nations Office for Human Rights Affairs (UNOCHA)'s report shedding light on the impacts of the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Abdel-Latif Al-Qanou said, "This report is considered a new UN document added to a series of previous documents that monitors the crimes and violations of the Zionist occupation."
Al-Qanou called for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its oppression and aggression against Palestinians.
He also called for the international community to pressure the Israeli occupation to stop its violations and attacks on Palestinians, as well as to lift its oppressive siege on Gaza.
The UNOCHA report shared that Israel's land, sea and air blockade: "Has significantly exacerbated previous restrictions, limiting the number and specified categories of people and goods allowed in and out through the Israeli-controlled crossings."
According to the report, "Israeli forces restrict access off the Gaza coast, currently only allowing fishermen to access 50 percent of the fishing waters allocated for this purpose under the Oslo Accords."
It also reported, "Unemployment levels in Gaza are amongst the highest in the world: the Q1 jobless rate in 2022 was 46.6 percent, compared with an average of 34.8 percent in 2006. Youth unemployment for the same period (age 15-29) stands at 62.5 percent."
The report added, "31 percent of households in Gaza have difficulties meeting essential education needs such as tuition fees and books, due to lack of financial resources, and 1.3 million out of 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza (62 percent) require food assistance."
The report also noted that Gaza's sole power plant and electricity bought from Israel only meet about 50 percent of the electricity demand in Gaza, while 78 percent of piped water in Gaza is unfit for human consumption.