European campaign: EU should strongly retaliate to IOA

The European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza Strip denounced on Tuesday the Israeli occupation authority's (IOA) refusal to grant Belgian minister Charles Michel permission to visit the Gaza Strip.

Mohammed Hanun, member of the campaign and head of the Palestinian gathering in Italy, said in a press release that the IOA measure was in absolute disregard of the European Union (EU) and must be met with a strong retaliation on the part of the EU.

He said that the IOA is trying to deceive the world public opinion into believing that the situation is normal in the Strip and is barring officials from entering it because they would discover the catastrophic impact of the four-year-old siege on the Strip.

Hanun advocated a Belgian and EU response to the IOA humiliation to the minister in blocking his freedom of movement and for its disrespect to the international laws.

He noted that the step came at a time when WHO revealed in a report the serious deterioration in the health and living conditions of the Gaza inhabitants especially following the latest Israeli war on Gaza.