MPs call for Israeli sanctions
Israel should be doing more to ensure that Palestinians experience better living conditions, according to a Commons Committee.
The International Development Committee have been studying the effects of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, and have recommended that measures should be taken to change the current situation.
MPs in the committee suggested that the conditions in which Palestinians are forced to live in are poor, and that Israel was making the situation worse with measures such as the West Bank security barrier.
They added that, despite understanding the Israeli fears concerning “morally abhorrent” suicide bombings, economic sanctions may be required to force the government’s hand.
A report compiled by the committee claimed that malnutrition in the occupied areas was similar to that in some sub-Saharan regions of Africa, and that the unemployment rate was between 60 and 70 per cent.
They concluded by asking UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to take an active role in ensuring a better standard of living for the Palestinians.
