Following disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September 2005, Israel has unilaterally and illegally established a so-called “buffer zone”, an area prohibited to Palestinians along the land and sea borders of the Gaza Strip. The precise area designated by Israel as a “buffer zone” is unknown and Israeli policy is typically enforced with live fire. The establishment of the ‘buffer zone’ is illegal under both Israeli and international law.

Preventing Palestinians from access to their land, and fishing areas, violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to the highest attainable standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Enforcing the “buffer zone” by means of live fire often results in, inter alia, the war crimes of direct targeting of civilians and indiscriminate attacks.

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