“A controlled descent into humanitarian crisis” was how Palestinian National Initiative General Secretary, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP today described the desperate situation in the Gaza Strip, one which he said was characterised by systematic border closures, wide-ranging forms of collective punishment, continued Israeli military attacks, and the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s economy.

A report by Ma'an News today that Israel has arrested 300 Fatah affiliates in the past two weeks confirms that an eventual liberation of 250 prisoners by Israel would be a farce.

The Palestinian people have reached a point of crisis in their national struggle for self-determination, the right of return, and the building of a democratic, sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The third anniversary of the International Court of Justice ruling against Israel's Apartheid Wall on 9 July will pass this year with an announcement by Israeli authorities of plans to build a new section of the Wall on the lands of Beit Jala near Bethlehem, a land grab that will see the further confiscation of Palestinian land, economic devastation, the destruction of natural resources and the separation of Palestinian families from one another.

Television footage of cameraman Imad Ghanem being shot and maimed as he collapsed near Gaza's al-Barij refugee camp on July 5th, in what Palestinian National Initiative General Secretary and former Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouthi MP termed “a grave attack on press freedom” has reignited fury and fear at the dangers facing journalists across Palestine.