Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström called on Friday for the Israeli government to lift its 12-year-old siege of the Gaza Strip and to allow medical aid into the coastal enclave, Egypt’s Al-Shaab newspaper has reported.

“Israel has to lift the siege it imposes on Gaza, open border crossings and secure the arrival of medical and food assistance,” Wallström told the Swedish parliament. The minister pointed to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory. She has made several comments against the illegal and inhumane Israeli siege.

Wallström also pointed out that the ongoing Great March of Return protests that started on 30 March in Gaza have seen Israeli snipers kill 136 Palestinians and wound more than 15,000 others, including children.

The Palestinians in Gaza have been protesting along the boundary of the Gaza Strip, particularly after Friday prayers. They are calling for the Israeli siege to be lifted and to be allowed to exercise their right to return to their homeland from which they have been driven by Zionist militias and the Israeli security forces since 1948.