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Oxfam: Israel carrying out collective punishment in Gaza

December 8, 2023 at 3:14 pm

Injured Palestinians, including children, are brought to Nasser Hospital to receive medical treatment following Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza on December 08, 2023 [Belal Khaled/Anadolu Agency]

Israel is carrying out a campaign of “collective punishment” against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and this is leading to chaos, Oxfam warned on Wednesday.

“Our political leaders are failing – in abject weakness – to forge a ceasefire, which is the only possible humanitarian action that now really matters,” Oxfam International Humanitarian Director, Marta Valdes Garcia, said in a statement.

“Israel’s so called safe zones within Gaza are a mirage: unprotected, not agreed or trusted, not provisioned and not accessible. We hold genuine fears that masses of terrified people will be forced beyond Gaza itself under the guise of ‘safety’,” she added.

“This would force the humanitarian system into an impossible choice between helping civilians and being complicit in their forced deportation.”

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