State of the Gaza Strip’s border crossings (01– 30 September 2016)

This report documents the conditions of the commercial border crossings related to the movement of persons during September 2016.  This report emphasizes that Israeli closure imposed on the Gaza Strip has been intensified during the reporting period as the quantity of goods that were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip unprecedentedly declined. The imports in September consitute 48.4% of the total imports in August. Moreover, the exports of the Strip do not exceed 3.8% of the total exports before imposing the closure in 2007. This report shows that sever restrictions imposed on the entry of about 400 types of goods to the Gaza Strip most of them are of the basic goods and raw materials. As for the movement of persons, the Israeli forces have imposed new restrictions on the residents of the Gaza Strip according to which they reduced the few numbers of the specific categories that were allowed to travel through Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing. Those restrictions affected civilians’ movement as the rate of patients’ permits rejected by the Israeli authorities increased. As a result, the number of patients allowed to travel through the abovementioned crossing showed 8% decline in last August when 40.2% of the patients’ permits was rejected. Meanwhile, the rate of patients’ companions rejected showed about 7.3% decline in August when 49% of the patient’s companions’ permits were rejected. Furthermore, the rate of business people allowed showed around 20% decline while the rate of people with special needs showed 30% and the traveelers through via al-Karamam Crossing was 25%.

The full report is available online at:

https://pchrgaza.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/State-of-crossings-September.pdf