OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Guardian: Palestinians Reduced To Begging

Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have been "reduced to begging"
by Israeli military action, and Israel is breaching international law by
failing to provide much-needed aid, a UN expert said yesterday. "There
is a permanent, grave violation of the right to food by the occupying
forces.
There is a catastrophic humanitarian situation," said Jean Ziegler, UN
special expert on the right to food. Palestinian villages are encircled
by troops, preventing food being delivered and farmers reaching their
fields, he said. Many villages had to buy their water because sources had been
cut off. Mr Ziegler also cited the destruction or confiscation of fertile
Palestinian land for military zones or Jewish colonies. "We saw
thousands of olive trees destroyed by bulldozers," he said. . . According to the
World Bank, almost one child in 10 in Gaza and the West Bank is
suffering from severe malnutrition.