NEW SIEGE OF GAZA

That this House is deeply concerned about the humanitarian effects on the people of Gaza because of the second siege on the Strip by the Egyptian military government; notes that the new regime in Cairo has closed the Rafah crossing, the only entrance and exit from Gaza to Egypt, for long periods, resulting in a 76 per cent drop in the numbers leaving since July; points out that six years after the Israeli government imposed a stranglehold on Gaza a second chokehold has been enacted by the Egyptian military; further points out that after the removal of the elected Egyptian president in July, around 800 tunnels which bring much-needed foodstuffs and supplies into Gaza have been destroyed along the border; further notes that this has resulted in rampant inflation, power cuts of up to eight hours a day, the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in one of the poorest and most crowded places on earth, and the inability of patients to access medical treatment and students to take up university places; and calls on the Government immediately to urge its Egyptian and Israeli counterparts to end these sieges which amount to communal punishment on the citizens of Gaza.