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A political commentator says the ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is considered a “collective punishment” of Palestinians.

Jim W. Dean, the managing editor of Veterans Today, told Press TV from Atlanta that the Israeli blockade through the land, air and sea “severely restricts” imports and exports as well as the movement of people in and out of Gaza.

He urged the international community and world organizations to take serious steps toward ending the siege.

The analyst said it “could take 20 years” for Gaza’s infrastructure to be rebuilt following the recent Israeli war on the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Israel continues to attack Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, “mainly farmers” and fishermen, depriving the enclave’s population of nearly 1.8 million of food, Dean stated.

The remarks come as the UN has announced a plan to create a system to ship badly needed reconstruction materials to Gaza.

With the cold days of winter approaching, more than 100,000 Gaza residents are still homeless.

In its latest war against the Palestinians in Gaza, which lasted about 50 days, the Israeli regime destroyed infrastructures and leveled to the ground thousands of houses in the impoverished Palestinian strip.

The assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip, which started on July 8, left over 2,100 killed and 11,000 others injured.

Gaza, the scene of three destructive wars since 2008, has long faced an Israeli blockade, including restrictions on the import of building materials such as concrete.