UN says Gaza crisis ‘intolerable’
Standards of human rights in the Palestinian territories have fallen to intolerable new levels, says a UN expert on the Mid-East conflict. John Dugard said Israel was largely to blame for turning Gaza into “a prison” and “throwing away the key”.
He also criticised Canada, Europe and the US for cutting funds to Palestinian Authority, run by the Hamas militant group which does not recognise Israel.
An Israeli official said the statement was unrealistic and over-simplified.
Mr Dugard, UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, said three-quarters of Palestinians in Gaza now depended on food aid – a result, he added, of Israeli military raids, blockades and demolitions.
“I hope that my portrayal… will trouble the consciences of those accustomed to turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Mr Dugard told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.