" "Forty-six years ago today Israel's occupation of Palestine
began. Six days of war has turned into 46 years of occupation," Falk, an
independent investigator, told the Geneva forum. "The viability of Gaza needs
urgent attention and cannot be left to the mercies of continuing Israeli
occupation," he said of the Islamist Hamas-ruled strip, around which Israel
maintains a blockade due to what it says are security concerns. Falk, who
visited Gaza last December after entering via Egypt, said that 70 percent of
Gaza's population depends on international aid for survival and 90 percent of
the water is "unfit for human consumption"." "In the first quarter of 2013,
Israel demolished 204 Palestinian homes and structures in the West Bank,
displacing 379 Palestinians, he said, citing U.N. figures. Israel detains nearly
5,000 Palestinians, many held arbitrarily and subjected to torture, coerced
confessions, solitary confinement and denial of family visits, he said."