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.
| On the Opposite Side |
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| Archbishop Tutu to Haniyeh: Stop Qassam fire / AFP |
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Head of UN committee probing 2006 death of 19 Palestinian civilians in Israeli artillery strike meets Hamas leader in Gaza, urges halt to rocket attacks on Israel |
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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 report 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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