Mr. Gutierrez said the government had not foreseen "the blockade and the isolation of the people and, much less, that the blockade would stop the flow of food".
Under the blockade, Israel limits the flow of concrete, cement and other materials into Gaza, arguing that they are "dual use" items that could also have a military purpose if taken by Hamas to rebuild the tunnels used to launch rocket attacks on its territory.
Gaddafi's forces have been pushed out of Ajdabiya, the no-fly zone has been established, the naval blockade to halt the flow of arms and mercenaries to Gaddafi forces is in place.
The Saudi-led coalition says it enforced the total blockade to limit the flow of weapons into the impoverished country after Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a missile toward Riyadh. .
warned during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that the Saudi-led coalition's reported killing of civilians and its extensive blockade, which hinders the flow of food and medicine into Yemen, could allow Congress to punish coalition members under a law that forbids U.S. military assistance to human rights violators.
As a Saudi-led naval blockade has slowed the flow of humanitarian aid into Yemen to a trickle, this network is one of the few remaining ways out of the country, ferrying desperate people packed aboard cattle boats in their hundreds to Somalia.
If there is a shooting incident, this reportedly will be the reaction timetable: 1 — An immediate tightening of the American sea blockade, to cut off the flow of petroleum to Cuba. 2 — Assignment of escort fighter-bombers to the unarmed reconnaissance planes.
A diplomatic source in Yemen told VICE News the attack targeted two boats that were attempting to breach a Saudi-led blockade that has staunched the flow of basic goods and fuel.
The blockade of Gaza, severely restricting the flow of food, fuel and medical supplies to its 1.5 million inhabitants, is a form of collective punishment, clearly proscribed under international law – yet these issues have not been brought up at all in the accession process.
Israel imposed an economic blockade with Hamas's takeover, limiting the flow of goods — particularly snacks like chocolate and chips and sodas — and tripling prices.
