Activists want end to Israeli blockade of Gaza

“The letter calls on the Egyptian President Mubarak to immediately open border-crossing with Gaza for urgent humanitarian aid,” Masoud Shajareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, told IRNA on Friday.

The already-worse Israeli siege on Gaza has created miserable living conditions for more than 1.5 million people mostly women and children trapped inside the strip.

“Israeli ongoing collective punishment of the civilian population is pushing Gazans into further poverty and misery,” he said.

Referring to the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands, Shajareh said the humanitarian crisis created by Israeli policy of collective punishment must “no longer be tolerated”.

He called on the Egyptian government to open its border with Gaza so that humanitarian supplies could be passed to the besieged Palestinians.

“While none can ignore the plight of the Palestinians, the Egyptian government bears the responsibility of allowing vital aid to the innocent people of Gaza whose only crime is living under occupation,” he said.

Shajareh added that the letter has been signed by human rights activists and other personalities from different countries including the UK, Turkey, Italy, Malaysia, Denmark, Sudan, Greece and Indonesia. –IRNA