Gaza faces collective punishment by Israel: Doctors Without Borders

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Gaza is experiencing a collective punishment by Israel, said Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Greece department on Friday.

It started with incredible acts of violence, and now it continues with a targeting and collective punishment of all the people living in Gaza, Achilleas Tzemos, deputy director of the department, told the public broadcaster ERT during an interview.

“Electricity has been cut, there is no fuel, there is no water, there is no food. This is a siege,” he added.

“We are talking about a siege that strikes beyond the gunmen,” Tzemos said, adding that health infrastructure in Gaza has been targeted with hospitals and ambulances being bombed.

“I don't know if intentionally or unintentionally,” Tzemos said.

When asked about the evacuation of Gaza, he commented that moving some one million people living in the area is extremely difficult.

In a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began last Saturday when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has reeled under a crippling siege since 2007.