Ramallah, 29-07-07: Palestinian medical sources announced today the death of Ahmed Ramadan Diab al-Khatib, 43, a cancer patient who was blocked at the Rafah crossing. More than 6,000 Palestinians seeking to return to the Gaza Strip are stranded at the border in Egypt since Israel completely sealed off the crossing on 10 June 2007. A number of these Palestinians had travelled abroad through the crossing to undergo surgery and require special medical care that is lacking at the crossing point. This unnecessary hardship has already caused the death of 26 persons.
Palestinian National Initiative leader Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, qualified this situation as a gross violation of Human Rights, and a form of collective punishment. He called for the immediate opening of the Rafah crossing and the return of all the more than 6,000 stranded travellers to the Gaza Strip. Dr. Barghouthi condemned the Israeli proposal to return only about 600 of them through an Israeli border crossing. He stated that “it is unacceptable to let Israel pick who is coming back or not” and pointed out that the forced closure of the Rafah crossing is “an attack on Palestinian sovereignty and proof that the Gaza Strip is still under occupation”.