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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><b style><span style="font-family:Arial;color:black">The People’s Health Movement condemns the Israeli military
operations in Gaza</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">The <a href="http://www.phmovement.org/">People’s Health Movement</a>
(PHM) strongly condemns the latest Israeli military operation in the besieged
Gaza Strip. At the time of issuing the statement, a total of 25 people have
been killed and more than 250 injured. Six of those killed are children.<span style> </span>PHM calls on civil society organizations and
citizens to put pressure on their governments to condemn the aggression on the
people of Gaza
and to allocate aid assistance and disaster relief to the Strip's 1.6 million
people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">Israeli military spokespersons immediately threatened to expand
the initial air strikes to a full-scale military operation, codenamed <i>Pillar
of Defense</i>. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak underlined that the
operation would not be completed in “one fell swoop,” but that its objectives
will be attained over time. Any Israeli talk of surgical strikes is nothing but
hollow rhetoric. With a population density of around 4500 people per square km,
the Gaza Strip is indeed one of the most densely populated areas in the world
and within the first hours of bombardment four children, including the
11-month-old son of a journalist, were reported killed. Many others were injured.
After less than 24 hours, with 192 essential drug items and more than 500
consumable items out of stock, the Ministry of Health was already reporting
extreme shortages in medical supplies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.4pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">The current
offensive is but the most recent expression of Israel's
direct targeting of Gaza's
population. <span class="A14"><span style>According to the UN </span></span></span><span class="A1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial">Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,</span></span><span class="A14"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></span><span class="A6"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial">nearly 2,300
Palestinians were killed and 7,700 injured by Israeli forces between June 2007
and June 2012.<a style href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span style><span class="A6"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial">[1]</span></span></span></a>
Over a quarter (27%) of all Palestinian fatalities were women and children. </span></span><span class="A15"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial">Since 2009, Israeli naval forces have prevented fishermen
from accessing areas beyond three nautical miles from Gaza’s coast, where the main sardine shoals
are located. This has severely undermined the livelihoods of 35,000 people.
Farmland located within 500 meters from the Gaza perimeter fence has become inaccessible
to Palestinians, while Israeli “warning shots” have made accessing areas up to
1500 meters hazardous. As a result, an estimated 75,000 metric tons of produce
are lost each year. Today, </span></span><span class="A6"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial">44% of Gaza's people are food
insecure. About 80% are aid recipients. Over 90% of the water from the Gaza
Aquifer, the Strip's only natural freshwater source, is unsafe for human
consumption without treatment. Israeli</span></span><span class="A14"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial">
import restrictions effectively blocked the upgrading of Gaza’s sewage infrastructure: nearly 90
million liters of untreated or partially treated sewage are discharged into the
sea daily. Contaminated seawater poses a serious health hazard. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.4pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.4pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">For these reasons,
the PHM:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.4pt;margin-left:.5in;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:black"><span style>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">demands that the Israeli government immediately halt its offensive
in order to avoid further civilian casualties and lifts the ongoing blockade of
Gaza.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.4pt;margin-left:.5in;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:black"><span style>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">demands that governments around the world condemn the ongoing
aggression of Palestinians by Israel
and sever diplomatic, trade and military ties with Israel. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.4pt;margin-left:.5in;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:black"><span style>-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">calls on all international donors to allocate aid money and
medical supplies to the important emergency work in Gaza Strip, as soon as
possible.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">Our thoughts are with our partners and friends from PHM Palestine
who are tirelessly easing the suffering of the Palestinian population. We stand
in solidarity with the brave health workers and human rights activists who are
serving their people. We likewise recognize and appreciate the mobilization and
demonstrations by social and political forces within Israel
demanding an immediate end to their government's military operation and the
siege on Gaza.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"><span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">November 16, 2012</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:1.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:1.4pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:ideograph-numeric"><a style href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span style="font-family:"Gill Sans MT""><span style><span class="FootnoteCharacters"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Gill Sans MT"">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="A6"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style> </span><a href="http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_june_2012_english.pdf">http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_june_2012_english.pdf</a></span></span></p>
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