Reply #2: In pictures: Gaza border breached [View All]

[Scurrilous]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7209199.stm


Gaza must not be cut off from the world

<snip>

"The Egyptian authorities began efforts to reclose the country's border with Gaza on Friday morning. Their actions come three days after Palestinian militants blew open breaches in the Gaza-Egypt border wall, allowing hundreds of thousands of Gazans to cross into Egypt to buy food, medicines, fuel and other basic necessities.

The Gaza-Egypt border had been sealed since June 2007, virtually imprisoning the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip, most of them in abject poverty as a result of the stringent Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza.

Amnesty International said that Egypt has the right to secure its border, but a return to the situation whereby the Egypt-Gaza border, Gazans’ only means of passage to the outside world, is completely sealed, as it has been for the past seven months, is not acceptable.

"Whatever agreement about the management of the border is reached between the governments of Israel and Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas de-facto administration in Gaza, it must respect fully the fundamental rights of the population of Gaza," said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "Notably their right not to be subjected to collective punishment, including arbitrary restrictions on movement and their rights to health, an adequate standard of living and freedom of movement."

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/gaza-must-not-be-cut-world-20080125