Prasad Kariyawasam, the head of the special UN committee on human rights in Palestine, voiced deep concern about the ongoing Israeli violations against human rights in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, pointing out that the Israeli siege increased poverty and destroyed economy in the Strip.

Kariyawasam, the representative of Sri Lanka in the three-member committee, warned against the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in the Palestinian lands occupied in 1967, the grave situation in the Gaza Strip, the impact of the separation wall on the lives of Palestinian people, and the continuing settlements policy.

The UN official told a press conference in the Jordanian capital Amman on Tuesday that the committee, which also includes representatives of Malaysia and Senegal, relies on testimonies of those who come from the occupied Palestinian lands because the IOA does not allow the members to visit the occupied lands.

The UN official said that witnesses including a number of Israeli citizens confirmed to the committee that the situation in the Palestinian lands is very bad and deteriorating further in comparison to last year 2007 because of the Israeli practices.

The UN official also underlined that the committee has the support of all UN member states except for US which uses its veto against the recommendations issued by the committee against the Israeli violations.

"The international community has a moral and legal obligation to ensure that all international human rights and humanitarian law standards are fully implemented at all times," the UN official underscored.

The UN special committee is embarking on investigating Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and will submit a report to the UN general assembly later this year.

Israel killed 29 Palestinians in June including four children

Quds Press reported that the IOF troops killed last June 29 Palestinians including four children which means that the total number of the victims murdered during the first six months of 2008 rose to 449 Palestinians, mostly killed in the Gaza Strip.

According to the report, Israel during June killed 24 Palestinians in Gaza alone due to its military escalations while five were murdered in the West Bank. The report also pointed out that the IOF troops have killed since the beginning of this year a total of 66 children.

Most of the victims were killed before the calm took effect on 19 June and after that date the IOF killed four others in the West Bank taking advantage that the truce had not yet been activated in the West Bank.

In a new development, a 20-year-old Palestinian young man called Mazen Arrar was proclaimed dead due to the closures and the Israeli siege. His death raised the number of the siege victims to 200 patients.

The popular committee against the siege explained that the young man suffered a heart disease and waited for the Egyptian authorities to admit him into a hospital after the health ministry in Gaza afforded his medical expenses and coordinated with an Egyptian hospital to receive him, but the closure of the Rafah border crossing deprived him of the last hope to survive.

In another context, Israeli press sources reported that Israeli war minister Ehud Barak decided to reopen the Gaza crossings on Wednesday in order to transport limited quantities of cement into the Strip in addition to other commodities, noting that the crossings intended to be opened are Sufa, Karni and Nahal Oz.