http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3549068,00.html
UN envoy Tutu calls Gaza blockade illegal
South African Archbishop expressed
sympathy towards Sd***** residents,
but maintains that Israel is violating human rights
Reuters
Published: 05.28.08, 17:05/Israel News
UN Envoy Archbishop Desmond Tutu
on Wednesday called the Israeli
blockade of the Gaza Strip illegal
and urged Palestinian militants to
halt cross-border rocket attacks
from Hamas-controlled territory.
Tutu said the blockade was "a siege"
and a "gross violation to human rights",
echoing rights groups which accuse Israel
of collective punishment.
Former US President Jimmy Carter
last month referred to the
blockade as an atrocity.
While visiting the northern Gaza
town of Beit Hanoun, Tutu said he
was also sympathetic towards
"the people of Sd***** suffering
from the Qassam rockets,
we care about them too,"
a reference to a southern Israeli
town frequently targeted by Gaza
militants.
The South African cleric,
who was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1985 over
his non-violent struggle
against apartheid,
heads a UN fact-finding commission
investigating the deaths of 19
Palestinians in a 2006 Israeli
artillery attack.
Israel has said a technical problem
caused shells to mistakenly hit two
homes in an area used by militants
to fire rockets at the Jewish state.
The investigative team will present
a re****t to the UN Human Rights Council
in Geneva.
Israel, which regards the
group as biased against it,
denied Tutu a visa,
forcing him to cross into
the Gaza Strip through Egypt.
Israel tightened its restrictions
at the Gaza border crossings after
Hamas took over the territory last
June.
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