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Human rights access to Gaza "imperative" -- Amnesty

LONDON, Aug 19 (KUNA) -- The resumption of Israeli air strikes and rocket fire from Gaza underscores "the imperative need to grant human rights groups immediate access to monitor the situation", said Amnesty International Tuesday.
Since the beginning of Israeli military operation on July 8 in the Gaza Strip, Israeli authorities have denied repeated requests by Amnesty International to enter Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing, the group said in a statement here. The organization also requested access from Egyptian authorities, who so far have not granted it, Amnesty added.
"The apparent resumption of Israeli airstrikes and rocket fire today (Tuesday) is another reminder that our access to the Gaza Strip cannot wait. Valuable time has already been lost and it is essential that human rights organizations are now able to begin the vital job of examining allegations of war crimes," said Anne FitzGerald, Amnesty International's Director of Research and Crisis Response.
"The Israeli authorities appear to have been playing bureaucratic games with us over access to Gaza, conditioning it on entirely unreasonable criteria even as the death toll in the region has risen." Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are set to issue a joint statement calling on the Israeli authorities to immediately allow human rights groups access to Gaza, the statement said. (end) he.hm