ISRAEL'S CHOKE HOLD ON PALESTINIANS IN GAZA

Israel has apparently withdrawn all of its troops from Gaza. However, it has positioned them all around the Gaza border, ready to re-initiate the attack upon notice. Furthermore, Israel continues to fly drones across Gaza, looking for Hamas officials, or Palestinians set to fire rockets into Israel. The borders remain closed: that means no commerce, no building materials, only the barest amount of food, medicine, fuel.

Israel needs to allow Palestinians some chance to live. It should immediately re-open all of the Gaza borders. It should cease the drones over Gaza. It should allow in an unlimited amount of food, medicine and fuel. The U.N. bans collective punishment of civilian populations. This applies to Israel's actions against Palestinian society.

On their part, Palestinians in Gaza need to prevent and renounce the random firing of rockets aimed at Israeli towns and villages.

As it now stands, Israel has reduced Gaza to rubble. Not only Hamas civic offices but over 4,000 homes. More than 50,000 Palestinians are living in United Nations shelters mostly in schools. Over 1200 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's bombardment, many of them children under 16.

The BBC reports:

"Rebuilding the Gaza Strip after Israel's three-week offensive will cost billions of dollars, the UN has warned.

"Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been left homeless and 400,000 people still have no running water, it says."