Ref: 96/2022
Date: 04 August 2022
Time: 13:00 GMT
The Israeli Occupation authorities continue the complete closure of the Gaza Strip crossings for the third day consecutively, isolating the Strip and blocking movement of individuals and goods. This perpetuates the collective punishment policy against 2 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip in grave breach of the international humanitarian law, particularly the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention. The statement by the Israeli Defense Ministry Benny Gantz on Wednesday, 04 August 2022, when he linked the Gaza residents’ humanitarian and living conditions with the security situation further proves the Israeli continued collective punishment and retaliatory policy against civilians.
The closure of Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing denies hundreds of emergency cases, including patients with cancer and serious diseases whose treatment are not available in the Gaza Strip’s hospitals, travel for treatment in the hospitals in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and Israel. This puts patients’ lives at risk and leads to their death. According to the General Authority for Civil Affairs (GACA) data, 100-120 patients daily travel for treatment abroad; thus, the continued closure of the crossing to this category would lead to the premediated murder of tens of patients in light of the Gaza health system’s failure to provide the necessary treatment for them due to the insufficient medical personnel and chronic shortage of medicines and medical supplies such as radiotherapy and laboratory materials necessary for diagnostic tests.
(S. Gh.) (46), a female patient with cancer, said that since last April she had applied 5 times to obtain a permit to travel for treatment at al-Rahmah Hospital in Nablus. And after finally obtaining a permit to travel via Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing on 03 August 2022, she could not travel because the crossing is closed. The patient fears that her health condition would deteriorate, and cancer would spread throughout her body due to not receiving the adequate treatment, which is determined after a CT scan is conducted in Nablus.
The continued closure of Karm Abu Salem Crossing “the only commercial crossing in the Gaza Strip” and entry ban on fuel necessary for the operation of the only power plant in the Strip would force it to shut down. In a statement on Wednesday, Eng. Rafeeq Maliha, General Director of Gaza Power Plant, announced that the fuel available at the plant is only enough for two days, and this would exacerbate the electricity crisis and deteriorate citizens’ daily life as the daily power outage has reached over 10 hours. He also fears that this would affect the operation of vital facilities that provide basic services, such as hospitals, healthcare facilities, and the municipal water and sanitation services.
PCHR denounces the ongoing closure of Gaza Strip’s crossings and believes that such decisions further tighten the Israeli-imposed closure on the Gaza Strip for 16 years and fall under the collective punishment policy that leads to a real humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. Also, the closure of crossings is a clear violation of Article 33 of Fourth Geneva Convention and jeopardizes the Gaza Strip residents’ enjoyment of their economic and social rights, especially the right to health.
In light of the above, PCHR Calls upon:
