Seven UN rapporteurs on Wednesday called upon the international community to pay attention to the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip and appealed to the besieging parties to immediately end their mass punitive measure against the population especially with regard to electricity.
“The two million residents of Gaza are suffering through a humanitarian crisis that is entirely human-made” the rapporteurs said in a statement. “It represents a complete failure of all parties to uphold their fundamental human rights obligations including the inalienable right to life.”
“Reports indicate that electricity is now available for six consecutive hours at the most often less followed by 12 hour periods of blackout. The situation is untenable” they warned.
The experts said Israel’s recent implementation of a decision by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to further reduce electricity supplies by up to 40 percent was leading to an unprecedented deterioration in the provision of critical services.
Israel as the occupying power controlling the entry and exit of goods and people bore the primary responsibility for the deterioration of the situation they said and should honor its commitments under international humanitarian law and human rights law.
The rapporteurs expressed their belief however that the current dispute between the PA and Hamas over fuel taxes imposed by the former led to the recent additional cuts and has contributed to significantly worsening the crisis.
They called on the international community not to turn a blind eye to Gaza and demanded a full and immediate end to the 10-year blockade and closure which they said “amounts to collective punishment contrary to international law.”
Fuel recently supplied by Egypt had provided some relief but was not a permanent solution the experts added warning that the current electricity crisis affected health services and almost every aspect of daily life.
“Many operating rooms have now been shut down basic health services have been drastically cut and complex diagnostic equipment and interventions are available only intermittently” they said.
The experts noted that drinkable desalinated water is becoming less and less available while untreated sewage continues to be dumped into the Mediterranean at the rate of 100 million liters a day and is possibly worsening aquifer contamination.
“Families are struggling to safely store and prepare food without refrigeration a recipe for disaster when combined with the weakened health services. Cooking heating and lighting and other fundamentals of the right to housing are jeopardized. People with disabilities older people and women are being hit especially hard” they said.
“The agricultural sector is also suffering severely limited irrigation which will worsen widespread food insecurity if the situation continues.”
According to them the power crisis largely increased the suffering of the population who has already endured years of struggle poverty and military attacks.
“This current crisis only compounds the residents’ fast-growing sense of despair and hopelessness” they said warning that after 10 years of closure and blockade Gaza is living with one of the world’s highest unemployment rates economic stagnation and a backwards march towards ‘de-development’.
“This crippling crisis has been imposed on people whose livelihoods were already at breaking point. The economy may now face damage beyond the point of revival. As in any crisis like this the poorest and most vulnerable suffer the most” the human rights experts stressed.
For its part the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor based in Geneva welcomed the statement that was issued by the UN rapporteurs and stressed the need for all parties to spare civilians the consequences of political differences.
The monitor warned the concerned parties especially Israel of turning their back to the rapporteurs’ position and called for unified international action putting an end to the suffering of the population in Gaza.
The statement was released by the following UN experts:
Michael Lynk special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
Dainius Puras special rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (right to health).
Leilani Farha special rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and on the right to non-discrimination.
Hilal Elver special rapporteur on the right to food.
Philip Alston special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Leo Heller special rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Saad al-Fararji special rapporteur on the right to development.
