NEW YORK , July 29, 2009, (WAFA)- The Economic and Social Council at the United Nations (ECOSOC) said a combination of closures and sanctions imposed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and the last military operation in the Gaza Strip led to deepening of the humanitarian and socio-economic crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory in 2008.

That was a conclusion of an ECOSOC report published Tuesday describing the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan.

The report said that the occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, the use of arbitrary detention, the disproportionate use of force, house demolitions, severe mobility restrictions, lack of building permits and closure policies continue to intensify the economic and social hardship of the Palestinians of the OPT. Internal Palestinian conflict has also continued to cause casualties and disrupted the delivery of essential services to the population.

The report added: In December 2008, the Israeli army launched a 22-day military operation in the Gaza Strip that killed a reported 1,440 people and injured 5,380, and gravely deepened the existing humanitarian and economic crisis caused by the ongoing blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip, which has remained isolated since June 2007, with rapidly deteriorating conditions, a near collapse of the private sector and shortages of essentials such as food, electricity and fuel.

The report stressed: The Israeli closure system remains a primary cause of poverty and humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory, and the ongoing occupation and expansion of settlements by Israel in the occupied Syrian Golan since 1967, in violation of Security Council resolution 497 (1981). However, the Palestinian Authority managed to make some progress in areas such as security, public financial management, local public infrastructure and health and education services, not least because it was able to fully pay civil servants every month.