G8: Gaza siege unsustainable

G8: Gaza siege unsustainable

ONTARIO, — Leaders of the group of eight major industrial nations have urged Israel to allow entry of necessary aid to the Gaza Strip that has been under tight siege for four years that led to the death of more than 400 patients as a result of scarcity of medicine and closure of crossings before their travel abroad for treatment.

The G8 leaders said, at the closing statement of their meeting in Canada, that the Israeli siege should not continue in its current form and that more aid should reach its Palestinian inhabitants.

The G8 said that it “deeply regretted” the loss of life that occurred when Israeli commandos raided an aid flotilla off Gaza in May, killing nine pro-Palestinian activists, and welcomed Israel’s decision to set up an independent public commission to investigate the events.
 
The G8 welcomed Israel’s decision to relax certain elements of its blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza, saying “current arrangements are not sustainable and must be changed.”

International calls for an immediate end to the Gaza siege escalated after the Israeli attack on the “Freedom Flotilla” in international waters on May 31st.