{"id":1081,"date":"2018-11-02T19:00:33","date_gmt":"2018-11-02T19:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/?p=1081"},"modified":"2018-11-02T19:03:07","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T19:03:07","slug":"gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20181102-gaza","title":{"rendered":"Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the Strip has been blockaded by Israeli authorities. Though there are no Israeli forces in Gaza itself, Israel remains the occupying power as it has continuing effective control over the territory due to the complete closure by land, sea and air. Israel controls all access, with the exception of the short border with Egypt. As such, in line with international law, Gaza is still under occupation by Israel and the primary obligation for the humanitarian needs of those in that territory rests with Israel.<\/p>\n

This 11-year closure has had a devastating impact on the people of Gaza:<\/p>\n

Unemployment in Gaza is among the highest in the world at 44%, rising to 60% among those aged 15-29,<\/li>\n
Over 96% of water is undrinkable,<\/li>\n
80% of the shoreline is polluted by untreated sewage,<\/li>\n
80% of people dependent on foreign assistance,<\/li>\n
40% rate of poverty,<\/li>\n
Chronic electricity shortage, with people only receiving around 3 hours of electricity a day,<\/li>\n
Health system on brink of collapse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This crisis was entirely avoidable and indeed was predicted by the UN and others. In 2012, the United Nations predicted that Gaza would be unliveable by 2020. Then, in July 2017, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities, Robert Piper, revised the projection, stating that the \u201cunliveability threshold has been passed quite a long time ago\u201d. That echoes the warnings of some organisations on the ground who are already reporting that Gaza is unliveable now.<\/p>\n

As a result of all this, as the World Health Organisation has warned<\/a>, health services in Gaza are \u201con the brink of collapse\u201d, with a drastic deficit in medical disposables and essential drugs. 42% of essential medicines have been completed depleted and there are shortages of electricity and fuel for generators to keep the hospitals running. For those who need urgent treatment outside of Gaza, Israeli permit approval is needed, but 2017 saw the lowest rate of permit approvals for Palestinian patients since records began. According to Medical Aid for Palestinians<\/a>, 54 patients are known to have died following denial or delay to such permits in 2017.<\/p>\n
With the situation growing worse by the day and with no international agreement or plan to address the very real crisis in Gaza, the people of Gaza cannot wait for the outcome of a stalled and increasingly remote peace process to see an end to their suffering.<\/p>\n
As such, the UK Government should:<\/p>\n
- Call for the lifting of the illegal closure of Gaza,<\/li>\n
- Encourage Israel to fulfil its obligations to the welfare of the people of Gaza,<\/li>\n
- Pursue accountability for all violations of international law and human rights law.<\/li>\n
- Support development of vital infrastructure in Gaza, specifically addressing urgent needs of healthcare, electricity and sanitation,<\/li>\n
- Support the UN OCHA Humanitarian Fund appeal for Gaza.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
  Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the Strip has been blockaded by Israeli authorities. Though there are no Israeli forces in Gaza itself, Israel remains the occupying power as it has continuing effective control over the territory due…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/School-children-sign-a-large-palestinian-flag-in-solidarity-with-gaza.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":147,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20110806-sandra-osborne-mp-diary-blog-of-visit-to-gaza","url_meta":{"origin":1081,"position":0},"title":"Sandra Osborne MP - Diary Blog of visit to Gaza","date":"6th August 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Gaza Visit \u2013 July 2011 Sandra Osborne MP visit to Gaza was organised by the Council for European Palestinian Relations and the delegation consisted of Members of Parliament and Members of the European Parliament. Below is a brief record of the visit with some commentary where appropriate. Background Peace and\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"School children sign messages on the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the people in Gaza","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/School-children-sign-a-large-palestinian-flag-in-solidarity-with-gaza.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20101021-ed-miliband-pledges-support-for-palestinian-statehood","url_meta":{"origin":1081,"position":1},"title":"Ed Miliband pledges support for Palestinian statehood","date":"21st October 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The new leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband MP, promised to visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, when he addressed the Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East Reception during the Labour Party conference in Manchester. The Labour leader told a meeting of more than 200 delegates\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ed-miliband.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":76,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20101122-richard-burden-mp-tables-an-edm-on-the-43-year-long-occupation-of-the-palestinian-territories","url_meta":{"origin":1081,"position":2},"title":"Richard Burden MP tables an EDM on the 43 year long occupation of the Palestinian Territories","date":"22nd November 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"That this House notes the 43-year-long occupation of the Palestinian Territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem by Israel; further notes the presence of over 500,000 illegal Israeli settlers on occupied land and therefusal of the government of Israel to halt the construction of such\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"Houses of Parliament","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/houses-of-parliament.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20161222-briefing-on-the-united-nations-vote-on-palestinian-statehood-and-un-membership-in-september","url_meta":{"origin":1081,"position":3},"title":"Briefing on the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood and UN membership in September","date":"22nd December 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Israelis refused to extend their settlement freeze last September, leading to the break-up of the peace talks, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would seek recognition as an independent state and membership of the United Nations at the General Assembly in September.\u00a0 Already well over 100 countries (representing\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/placeholder_grey.gif?quality=80&resize=350%2C200&strip=all#038;strip=all&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":140,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20110703-briefing-on-the-united-nations-vote-on-palestinian-statehood-and-un-membership-in-september-2","url_meta":{"origin":1081,"position":4},"title":"Briefing on the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood and UN membership in September","date":"3rd July 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Israelis refused to extend their settlement freeze last September, leading to the break-up of the peace talks, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would seek recognition as an independent state and membership of the United Nations at the General Assembly in September.\u00a0 Already well over 100 countries (representing\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Map-palestinian-loss-of-land-1946-2009.jpg?fit=1200%2C816&quality=80&strip=all&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/20150406-labour-mps-press-the-government-on-un-recognition-of-palestine","url_meta":{"origin":1081,"position":5},"title":"Labour MPs press the Government on UN recognition of Palestine","date":"6th April 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"During this week\u2019s Foreign Office and Commonwealth Questions in House of Commons, Labour MPs pressed the Foreign Secretary William Hague on the issue of the \u2018recognition\u2019 of Palestine at the UN in September. Labour MPs Margaret Curran and Sandra Osborne tabled the question asking the Foreign Secretary \u201cWhat his policy\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/placeholder_grey.gif?quality=80&resize=350%2C200&strip=all#038;strip=all&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1082,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081\/revisions\/1082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfpme.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}