Gaza civilians must be first on the agenda at the forthcoming UNSC meeting on the Middle-East

As Russia is preparing to preside over a meeting of Foreign Ministers at the UN Security Council on May 11th to discuss the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Oxfam International urges Foreign Ministers from the 15 members of the Council not to overlook the needs of civilians in the Gaza Strip, and to put humanitarian imperatives first.

“Any high level meeting on the Israeli Palestinian conflict must take the one and a half million people in Gaza as its top priority. Eight thousand families living without homes and ten thousand families living without glass in their windows and with no sign of being able to rebuild or repair soon is a recipe for hopelessness and despair instead of the desperately needed progress towards peace that Palestinian and Israeli civilians have the right to enjoy,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs.

Four months after the end of the Israeli military operation "Cast Lead," it is essential that the restrictions on goods needed in Gaza for repair and recovery are lifted and the blockade ended by means of a full and immediate re-opening of all crossings both for goods and people, so that Gazans can begin to rebuild their lives.