Mr. Speaker, no one in Canada tolerates the random acts of terrorism committed by Hamas in Israel. The violence in Lebanon has also shocked and saddened all of us. However the prolonged state of siege that the Palestinians are enduring in the West Bank and Gaza is causing unbelievable hardship to the residents, particularly the women and children who are desperate for food and medical supplies.
With their border crossings closed, an already fragile economy is enduring 90 per cent unemployment. The movement of goods has shut down. While people are hungry, tonnes of fruit and vegetables are rotting in the fields. Schools have closed down, turning thousands of children loose in the streets. Universities have also been shut down. Many cases of maternal and infant deaths have been recorded as access to hospitals is restricted. All Palestinians are being punished for the insane acts of a few.
Is it not time for Israelis who have known hunger, torture and fear to lift the regulations to keep hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the worst conditions imaginable? How can peace be achieved when such suffering is allowed to continue?