GAZA (AA) - Scores of Palestinian children held a candlelight vigil late Thursday in protest against an Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip and Egyptian restrictions along borders.
Children carried banners calling for and end to the siege on the impoverished seaside strip.“We are here to send a message to the free world to stand by Gaza against the blockade,” Badr Yousef, a Gazan child, told the rally, organized by the National Committee for Breaking the Siege. He said that the strip was facing an acute shortage of electricity and fuel, putting the life of thousands of patients at risk.
The Gazan child appealed to the United Nations to intervene to end the humanitarian crisis caused by the strict Israeli blockade on Gaza.
He also called on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah border gate, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that surpasses Israel.
Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, which forced residents to dig underground tunnels along borders with Egypt to bring in their needs of food and fuel.
But since the army’s July 3 ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian army troops have cracked down on Gaza tunnels, bringing most of them to a halt.
by Mohamed Maged
englishnews@aa.com.tr
