UN slams Israel eviction of Palestinians
A senior UN humanitarian official says Israel should end the forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said that the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes has had devastating, long-term ramifications, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The UN official made the comments in a New York news conference on Tuesday, following a four-day visit to the occupied territories of East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank.
Though she stopped short of calling the situation a humanitarian crisis, Amos was intensely critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians.
“I met families evicted from their homes to make way for settler communities in the East Jerusalem (East al-Quds) neighborhoods ...they face daily harassments and threats from neighboring settlers. Attacks on Palestinians are rarely prosecuted,” Amos said.
The United Nations humanitarian emergency coordinator also defended the Palestinians' right to free and safe travel in order to develop their economy and reduce dependence on humanitarian assistance.
Amos emphasized that the illegal Israeli separation barrier has deprived Palestinians of basic services.
“Palestinians are frustrated by the impact of planning and zoning policies on their lives. They cannot move around freely, their homes are regularly demolished and they cannot develop their communities,” the top UN official added.
She also called on Israel to lift the almost four-year-long blockade of the impoverished Gaza Strip.
As a result of the siege over a million Gazans are dependent on food aid, the UN official said.
Amos also touched on the Israeli shootings of unarmed Palestinians during Nakba Day demonstrations on May 15, saying that she and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had raised their objections to Tel Aviv over the incident.
This is while, despite letters from Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian officials calling for a formal UN reaction to the shootings, none has occurred.
At least 25 people in southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Syria's occupied Golan heights were killed by Israeli fire on Nakba Day.
Many others were also wounded in the attack.
Nakba Day, or the day of catastrophe, marks the 63rd anniversary of the occupation of Palestine by the Israeli army and the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their land in 1948.
Source: presstv.ir
