A diplomatic delegation visited on Wednesday the West Bank city of Nablus, which remains besieged by the Israeli army for the 16th consecutive day, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The delegation, comprising diplomats and representatives from 17 countries, made their way to the Old City of Nablus. The area has recently become the scene of deadly Israeli army raids that resulted in the killing of six Palestinians between October 23 to 25.

Nablus Mayor Sami Hijjawi highlighted to the delegation the implications of the Israeli siege imposed on the city, which has brought daily life in it to a virtual halt with devastating economic impacts on its residents.

Hijjawi added that as a result of the 16-day siege, the municipality has not been able to access the wells supplying water to the city in order to carry out periodic maintenance works.

Director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) Ghassan Hamdan briefed the visiting delegation on the impacts of the siege on the economic, industrial and educational sectors. He also reported about the settler attacks against the governorate’s residents.

He said that Israeli forces have been targeting medical crews, obstructing their movement and blocking them from accessing the injured.

Focusing on the suffering of kidney dialysis patients, Hamdan said that they have to wait for long hours at the army checkpoints, hindering their accessibility to medication and forcing them to receive treatment once or twice a week instead of three times.

For 16days in a row and in a collective punishment move, the Israeli military has closed all eight surrounding military checkpoints to enter and exit Nablus.

The military has also conducted large-scale nighttime raids in the city and the surrounding villages under the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.

(WAFA, PC, SOCIAL)