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Palestinians protest Israel's Gaza blockade on 15th anniversary

Palestinians have staged a protest against the now 15-year Israeli blockade on Gaza that crippled the territory's economy and living conditions.

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Home to more than two million people, Gaza has been reeling under a crippling blockade imposed by Israel in 2007.

Palestinians have staged a rally in Gaza to protest Israel’s 15-year-long blockade on the coastal territory.

Protesters waved banners on Tuesday condemning silence of the international community to the Israeli blockade during the rally held outside the UNESCO office in Gaza City.

“The international community must act to end the injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people,” Saad Ziada, a leader of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), told protesters.

“We remind the world of 55 years of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands and more than of 15 years of Israeli siege on Gaza,” he added.

Home to more than two million people, the Gaza Strip has been reeling under a crippling blockade imposed by Israel in 2007, which has a crushing impact on the livelihood of Palestinians in the territory.

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Palestinians stage a protest in front of the UNESCO building Gaza against Israeli occupation and blockade that has been imposed for 15 years.

'Not livable'

Gaza is the world’s third most densely populated city as more than two million Palestinians have been forced to live in an area of 362 square kilometres.

Israel's takeover of Mandatory Palestine in 1948 and its destruction of over 500 villages resulted in the displacement of millions of Palestinians across the country and the Middle East - tens of thousands moved into Gaza.

Israel militarily occupied the territory from 1967 to 2005. Despite withdrawing troops in 2005, the United Nations, international human rights organisations and the majority of governments and legal commentators consider the territory to still be under occupation.

The entire Palestinian population is not free to leave or enter Gaza, nor is it allowed to freely import or export goods due to the Israeli and Egyptian border closures as well as the Israeli sea and air blockade.

Back in 2012, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in the occupied Palestinian territory warned that Gaza might not be a "liveable place" by 2020.

The UN has also urged the lifting of the blockade that, as of 2020, has caused shortages of water, medicine and power - a situation exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis.