Dear friends,
as you will be aware, since 2006 Israel has been illegally blockading the Gaza Strip. This coastal region is one of the most densely populated regions in the world and home to more than 1.6 million Palestinians. Israel's land, sea and air blockade of Gaza intensified in 2007 when Hamas took control of the region and has seen Gaza transformed it into the world's largest open air prison. Israel's actions are illegal under international law with collective punishment such as this deemed a war crime.
On November 12, as a result of Israel's blockade, Gaza's Ministry of Health warned that the territory was on the brink of a “health catastrophe”. Due to Israel's illegal siege of Gaza, there is a severe shortage of essential medicines. Every hospital in the world has list of essential drugs - in Gaza, this includes 480 essential drugs, of which 140 have completely run out. Of the remaing 240, there is only sufficient stock of 70 of them for another 3 month.
Palestinian hospitals in Gaza are also being severely impacted by the severe fuel shortage in Gaza. Since 2006, the 13 Palestinian hospitals and other essential services in Gaza have been reliant, daily, on emergency generators to power life saving equipment. This is due to Israel's bombing of much of Gaza's public infrastructure in 2006, which destroyed Gaza's only electricity plant.
These fuel and power shortage impact on the entire Palestinian population as well. Talking with friends in Gaza, they tell me that they are still being subject to lengthy power cuts, daily, often for between 4 to 8 hours at a time.
The Gazan population is further at risk due to the lack of potable water, as a result of Israel's destruction of Gaza's only water purification centre in 2006. As a result, fuel is also needed to run water purification systems and treat sewage. On November 13, due to the short of electricity and fuel thousands of gallons of sewage overflowed onto the streets of Gaza. According to the Gaza City Wastewater Department, the spillage has caused widespread environmental and health hazards, affecting more than 20,000 people in the city.
I have included a range of photos below taken recently in Gaza, which highlight the dire situation faced by more than 1.6 million Palestinians living in the region.
Israel's open air prison in Gaza is yet another reason why the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign should be supported.
In solidarity, Kim


Jabalia refugee camp: Palestinian school boys light candles during a protest against the severe fuel cuts that lead to power shortages and the Israel's illegal 7 year siege. Photo by:Mohammed Talatene, 7 November 2013.