![Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesman [Mohammed Asad/Apaimages]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017_12-3-spokesman-of-Hamas-Fawzi-Barhoum-031217_MO_00-3.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
August 3, 2022 at 10:30 am
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement condemned on Tuesday Israeli violations against the Gaza Strip, including the blockade. The movement also criticised international “silence” on such violations.
“Israeli occupation measures have taken hostage more than two million Palestinians,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, “including sick women and children and cancer patients who need urgent medical treatment abroad.”
The Hamas official called on the international community to assume its responsibility for ending Israeli “violations” against Gaza and its Palestinian residents. He explained further that Hamas holds the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the suffering that the Palestinians in the enclave suffer under Israel’s 15-year siege which has devastated the Palestinian economy.
Barhoum also called for urgent and effective Palestinian, Arab and Islamic action to lift the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and support the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli occupation. “It is impossible to accept the prolonged suffering of the Gaza residents under the strict Israeli siege,” he insisted.
The Hamas statement was made in the wake of Israel’s closure of the border crossings with the Gaza Strip, exacerbating the difficult living conditions in the besieged territory.