20 European Union representatives arrived in besieged Gaza on Wednesday to monitor the humanitarian situation in the Strip as Palestinian official calls to end the 16-year Israeli blockade, The New Arab reported.

“The diplomatic delegation arrived at the territory for a two-day trip to check the humanitarian situation in Gaza and follow up on projects funded by the EU,” Shady Othman, the spokesman of the European Union Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah, told The New Arab.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is very bad, and the residents need to find a solution to end the Israeli blockade,” Othman added.

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“The Israeli blockade has caused serious repercussions because of the continued deterioration of the economic, social and humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip,” Amjad al-Shawa, the head of the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) Network in Gaza, said to TNA, adding that the Israeli blockade caused “a humanitarian catastrophe that affected all aspects of life for the residents of the strip, which is the highest population density in the world.”

Home to a population of 2.3 million, the Gaza Strip has been reeling under a years-long Israeli blockade since 2007, badly affecting livelihood in the territory.

In 2012, the United Nations said in its annual report that the Gaza Strip will be “unlivable” if the Israeli blockade persists. Since then, the UN repeatedly warned of the sharp deterioration of living conditions in the Gaza Strip.

(PC, The New Arab)