Tuesday, September 13, 2011

U.N. experts say Israel's blockade of Gaza illegal

An Israeli naval vessel (front) patrols near the port of Ashdod July 19, 2011. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

GENEVA | Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:03pm BST

(Reuters) - Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international law, a panel of human rights experts reporting to a U.N. body said on Tuesday, disputing a conclusion reached by a separate U.N. probe into Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

The so-called Palmer Report on the Israeli raid of May 2010 that killed nine Turkish activists said earlier this month that Israel had used unreasonable force in last year's raid, but its naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled strip was legal.

A panel of five independent U.N. rights experts reporting to the U.N. Human Rights Council rejected that conclusion, saying the blockade had subjected Gazans to collective punishment in "flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law".

The four-year blockade deprived 1.6 million Palestinians living in the enclave of fundamental rights, they said.

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2 comments:

  1. Anything that is illegal should stop.

    Why don't the Palestinians and friends of Palestine sue in court and get them to stop?

    ReplyDelete
  2. What court would Israel acknowledge?

    ReplyDelete