Palestinian human rights organizations in the Gaza Strip, today, Sunday, sent an urgent appeal to the international community to work to lift the siege on the Strip, and save the lives of residents in light of the successive crises, the latest of which is the spread of the Corona virus.
In the urgent appeal to the international community, the joint statement issued by the NGO Network, the Council of Palestinian Human Rights Organizations and the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights pointed out that the Corona pandemic has spread in Gaza, under difficult humanitarian and health conditions as a result of the occupation authorities´ continued tightening their siege on the Strip, through The closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing to various basic goods and materials, preventing the entry of fuel, and the sea.
The statement said, "This heralds an unprecedented deterioration in the humanitarian situation and undermining the fundamentals of life, especially since the profound negative impact of the power outage affects all aspects of basic services, such as the acute shortage of water supply for homes, the suspension of sewage treatment plants, the threat of the collapse of health services and the halting of hospitals." ".
He added, "The tightening of the blockade would cause the collapse of basic services, especially health care, water and sanitation services, and all municipal services, which are clearly deteriorating, due to the lack of material resources and power cuts for about 20 hours a day."
He continued, "These measures, which violate the rules of international law, carry serious and unprecedented risks, especially after the outbreak of the Corona virus outside the quarantine centers in the Gaza Strip, which threatens to paralyze the ability of the health sector, municipalities and civil defense to carry out their duties in the face of the epidemic and provide assistance to its victims."
The joint human rights statement indicated that the curfew was declared in the Gaza Strip last Monday evening, after discovering cases of corona, that it raised the concern of residents and observers of the situation in the Strip, in light of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, including the economic collapse and weak health services, due to the weakness of the available capabilities and their limitations in facing Virus.
The statement pointed out that the number of intensive care beds available in the Gaza Strip amounts to (110) beds, of which (78) are in Ministry of Health hospitals, and (7) beds are found at the military medical services and civil medical institutions (12) beds, while the institutions have The private medical facility has (13) beds.
He stated that 72% of the intensive care beds in Ministry of Health hospitals are occupied, which means that there are (22) actual beds ready to receive cases of infection with the Coronavirus in the event of its spread.
The number of ventilators working in intensive care units in the Gaza Strip is (93), of which (63) are in Ministry of Health hospitals only, and (9) devices are in hospitals affiliated with civil institutions, while there are (17) devices in private hospitals. And that any increase in the number of these beds or devices allocated to Corona patients will be at the expense of ordinary patients unless the international community intervenes with support and relief.
The statement of the human rights bodies considered the decision to separate the governorates and restrict the movement of citizens; To besiege the epidemic and prevent it from getting out of control as measures that have proven successful in several countries around the world, it entails severe dangers and repercussions on the population in light of the prevalence of unemployment and poverty affecting more than half of the population, while the percentage of families suffering from insecurity reached about (62.2%), which is increasing Dangerously, as a result of anti-virus measures, especially stopping the work of day laborers, fishermen, drivers and other professionals.
The statement emphasized that the Gaza Strip is facing a real humanitarian catastrophe if the occupying power continues to impose the blockade and impose unprecedented restrictions on the freedom of movement of individuals and goods.
Those authorities expressed their thanks and gratitude for the great role that government and private teams play, especially medical, and the work they are doing to stop the spread of the epidemic and control it under extremely difficult and deteriorating conditions, calling on citizens to strictly adhere to the prevention and safety measures issued by the competent authorities.
And renewed its call for the need to provide relief and aid by government agencies to those who have lost their jobs and those suffering from poverty and their deteriorating conditions, stressing the importance of solidarity of members of society, its forces and various institutions to provide aid and assistance to the poor and needy, which will support their resilience and fight the epidemic.
She welcomed the Palestinian government’s decision to send a delegation to the Gaza Strip, and the medicines and testing equipment provided by the government, calling on it at the same time to assume its responsibilities towards the sector, especially in the face of the Coronavirus, by providing the sector with its needs, strengthening its steadfastness, its commitment to the state of emergency and the measures taken, especially stopping the financial retirement of service employees. Generality.
It called on the international community to fulfill its legal and moral duties by the necessity of immediate action to the crimes committed by the occupation state, especially lifting the unjust blockade on the Gaza Strip, which is considered a collective punishment criminalized by international law, and pushing it to enter all needs, goods and fuel for operating the power station, lifting the naval blockade and empowering fishermen from Fishing in the Gaza Sea freely and safely, and providing urgent humanitarian and medical support in support of the population´s ability to combat the epidemic and to ensure the continuity of providing vital services to citizens.
