Canada is partly to blame for allowing human rights for Palestinians to deteriorate to a new low, a UN rights expert says.
John Dugard said Palestinians are subjected to "tragic" conditions in Gaza and the West Bank.
He criticized Canada, Israel, the U.S. and western European countries for cutting off funding to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas' victory in legislative elections in January.
Those countries have said funding will remain unless the militant group renounces violence and recognizes Israel.
"In effect, the Palestinian people have been subjected to economic sanctions — the first time an occupied people has been so treated," Dugard said. "Palestinian people are punished for having democratically elected a regime unacceptable to Israel, the U.S. and the EU."
Dugard said Israel was largely responsible for the "intolerable" situation for Palestinians, three-quarters of whom depend on food aid. He also blamed its military incursions and tough roadblocks for preventing hospitals from having enough electricity and for damaging or destroying numerous schools and houses.
"Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the key," Dugard said. "A serious humanitarian crisis prevails in the West Bank."
Dugard said the situation is worse now than at any other time during his mandate. He said Israel's reaction to the kidnapping of a soldier in June led to the deaths of more than 100 civilians and the wounding of many.
"What Israel chooses to describe as collateral damage to the civilian population is, in fact, indiscriminate killing prohibited by international law," he said.
But Itzhak Levanon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said Dugard's allegations were "one-sided" and he described the situation as "over-simplified."
"This report is characterized by errors of omission as well as distortions of both fact and law," he said.
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