9,000 Palestinians Stranded on Rafah Border
Palestinian organizations issued a warning of deep concern today about the humanitarian situation at the Rafah border,
which has been
completely sealed off for the 10th consecutive day by the Israeli army.
Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, PNI Secretary, confirmed that "for 10 days, not a single Palestinian, including children, women,
elders and sick people, has been able to return from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. Denying entry into Gaza to more than 9000
of the civilian Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a serious violation of international
law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention."
Some of the Palestinians stuck at the Rafah border are in need of
medical care - their lives are endangered by this latest Israeli policy of closure. Among them are also many children
returning back from various international summer camps, including a group of Palestinian children who attended a summer
camp in Morocco.
Freedom of movement is a right continuously and systematically denied to Palestinians by the Israel. Such a policy must
trigger international actions against the Israeli government for its grave violations of Human Rights and discrimination
against the Palestinians.
The Palestinian National Initiative thus appeals to the international community to demand that the Israeli military
stop denying Palestinians their basic rights, and further appeals to the international community to put pressure on
Israel to immediately open the Rafah border.