Gaza City, 06-07-06: Twelve Palestinians have been killed in Israeli aerial, artillery and ground attacks on the southern areas of Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis, and the northern town of Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip today. Several others were injured, although the Israeli army prevented two ambulances from reaching the scene.
The Israeli military has scaled up its bombardment which began last Wednesday night, and its tanks now stand more than 12 kilometres inside the Gaza Strip. All former Israeli settlements in northern Gaza, abandoned under last August's 'disengagement plan' have now been reoccupied by the Israeli army, together with the industrial zone.
Speaking from Gaza City where he has been trapped for 19 days since Israel sealed off the Strip's borders, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, condemned Israel's attacks as a grave violation of human rights and a gross form of collective punishment.
The humanitarian and public health crisis facing the Gaza Strip continues as a direct result of Israel's destruction of Gaza's electricity and water plants. 80 percent of Gazans are now without water and electricity, and sewage systems have also been affected.
In addition, 5,000 Palestinians have been stranded on the Egyptian side of the border due to Israel's closure of Gaza's crossing points, without adequate food and shelter. Hundreds of chronically ill patients, including cancer and heart patients, requiring essential life-saving medical treatment unavailable in Gaza itself, have been unable to leave.
The bombardment comes in a context where 26 parliamentarians and cabinet ministers kidnapped by Israel last week continue to be held without charge. An attempt by the Israeli army to kidnap the speaker of the house, Abdel Aziz Dweik, from his home in Ramallah, failed.