Human Rights group calls for solidarity with Palestinians

At a Wednesday press conferenence in Gaza city, Human Rights group 'The Committee for Breaking the Siege' called for heightened international cooperation in underway efforts to lift the Israeli-imposed siege on the Gaza Strip.

21-day-old Ahmad Abu Nada with his mother in the intensive care unit of the Gaza Children's Hospital. (Rami Almeghari)

Speakers at the conference, including the committee's head, legislator Jamal al-Khodari, asserted that as the situation in Gaza grows much worse, the need for assistance grows too.

The committee confirmed that more than 20 people had died as a direct result of being barred access to healthcare outsode the Gaza Strip, a number that will only rise as the closure continues. 

Asked by IMEMC's correspondent whether there had been assurances by Israel to open alternative crossings, law-maker al-Khodari indicated that no progress had been made. 

Israel placed the Gaza Strip under siege in mid-June, denying access of people and goods in and out of the Gaza Strip.

In August., Israel allowed the return to Gaza of 6,000 stranded Palestinians from Egypt, through an alternative route in northern Gaza.

Israel declared Gaza a ' hostile entity' in September and began cutting the supply of fuel and electricity to the coastal region. 

Representatives of the committee to break the siege during today's press conference at Ramattan News Agency in Gaza City/ photo by RNA