A coalition of United Nations and international aid agencies called Wednesday on Israel to end its closure of the Gaza Strip and open crossing points in order to save its deteriorating health sector from collapse, DPA reported.
The UN agencies and the Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA), representing over 80 non-governmental organizations, issued the call one year after the end of Israel's military offensive in Gaza where as many as 1,400 Palestinians had been killed.
The call was made on Wednesday in a joint news conference held at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City.
"The continuing closure of the Gaza Strip is undermining the functioning of the health care system and putting at risk the health of 1.4 million people in Gaza," Max Gaylard, the Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), said.
According to Gaylard, the closure "is causing ongoing deterioration in the social, economic and environmental determinants of health. It is hampering the provision of medical supplies and the training of health staff and it is preventing patients with serious medical conditions getting timely specialized treatment outside Gaza."
Israel, which had blockaded the Strip since June 2006, when an Israeli soldier was snatched by militants during a cross-border raid, tightened its closure in June 2007 after Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the coastal enclave. Egypt for its part shut down the Rafah border crossing point into the Sinai peninsula.
Israel says the sanctions are aimed at isolating Hamas, but observers and the international organizations argue that the siege is taking toll on the ordinary people and the quality of services they get, mainly in healthcare.