A/HRC/7/76 page 9 Humanitarian Affairs, from 18 to 24 January, 30 million litres of raw sewage water were released into the sea per day, creating risks for both public health and the environment. 25. During the reporting period, schools in Gaza reopened after the winter break, although the scarcity of fuel and power forced many institutions to operate without heating and electricity. Students also lacked basic materials, including chalk and textbooks, as a result of the restrictions on the entry of goods, negatively affecting their right to education. 26. According to academic and media sources, corroborated by Palestinian mental health practitioners during the period, a large proportion of the population in the Gaza Strip suffered from various levels of permanent anxiety, fear and tension, or showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorders. Evidence showed that a large percentage of children in the Gaza Strip were no longer able to perform their school and family duties; moreover, many suffered from psychosomatic pain. Signs of fear, anger, anxiety and sleeping disorders were also apparent among the children. 27. The closure of Gaza also affected the inhabitants’ freedom of religion or belief by preventing them from worshipping at some of the most sacred Muslim and Christian sites, such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. 28. Under article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, collective punishment of civilians under occupation is categorically prohibited: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.” The International Committee of the Red Cross has clarified in its authoritative commentary on article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that “the concept of collective punishment must be understood in the broadest sense: it covers not only legal sentences but sanctions and harassment of any sort”. 29. The blockade of Gaza by Israel was recently condemned by the international community and humanitarian agencies as constituting collective punishment. On 19 February 2008, the Secretary-General stated that it was vital that Israel cease actions of collective punishment and allow all legitimate and necessary humanitarian and commercial supplies to reach the population.13 30. The negative effects on the enjoyment of human rights resulting from the Israeli closure of Gaza were in some cases exacerbated by actions by other parties. On 7 February, at least 10 trucks with humanitarian aid sent to the Gaza Strip by the Jordanian Red Crescent Society were confiscated by Hamas security forces allegedly because the aid was addressed to the rival 13 Message to the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, Amman, 19-20 February 2008 (SG/SM/11429; PAL/2098).