24 members in the European Parliament signed a petition tabled by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor calling on Israel to allow immediate entry of requirements to confront the coronavirus pandemic into the Gaza Strip and to end the blockade imposed on the coastal enclave for more than 14 years.
In a press release on Monday the International Human Rights Monitor welcomed the signing of the petition by members of the European Parliament including the head of the delegation of relations with Palestine in the European Parliament Representative Manu Pineda and his deputy Margrete Auken.
It noted that the MEPs expressed their concern about the latest spike in COVID-19 cases in the Gaza Strip. They called for immediate measures to be taken to facilitate the entry of medicines and medical and preventive supplies such as masks and intensive care units into the Strip.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor pointed to the dilapidated health system and the depletion of a large number of medical supplies and equipment with a deficit exceeding 30% and an occupancy rate for intensive care beds that reached 90%.
The Chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Monitor Rami Abdu said “The international community is required to take decisive action to facilitate the entry of medical supplies allocate part of the coronavirus vaccines to the Strip and end the Israeli blockade imposed on the largest open prison in the world.”
Abdu added that the situation in the Gaza Strip is no longer acceptable and that the World Health Organization must ensure that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip receive decent health care.
The petition stated in the context of reviewing the fragile health situation in the Gaza Strip that several patients in the Gaza Strip died while waiting for the lengthy procedures to obtain transit permits to Israel and Egypt to seek treatment abroad.
Furthermore many health facilities were destroyed during the repeated Israeli attacks on the Strip. “This requires an immediate international intervention to save the Palestinians” he stressed.
The MEPs called on all parties to the conflict in Gaza to save the civilians from the plight of COVID-19 and to put their differences aside. They also urged Israel to allow medical aid to enter the Strip and end the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
