Ref: 25/2006
Date: 09 March 2006
Time: 10:30 GMT
IOF Continued to Impose a Tightened Siege on the Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip Suffers from a Shortage of Basic Foodstuffs, Medicines and Construction Raw Materials
PCHR strongly condemns the tightened siege imposed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on the Gaza Strip. This siege increases humanitarian suffering and violates the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of more than one and a half million Palestinians living the Gaza Strip. PCHR calls upon the international community to pressure Israeli occupation authorities to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law and to lift the closure imposed on the Gaza Strip. This closure is strangling the already damaged Gazan economy and is having a disastrous impact on the living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population, with increased levels of poverty and unemployment resulting from the restrictions imposed between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and between the Gaza Strip and the outside world. PCHR calls upon the international community to exert pressure on Israeli occupation authorities to fully reopen al-Mentar (Karni), Sofa and Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossings and to allow free passage of persons and goods.
According to information available to PCHR, Israeli occupation authorities have closed al-Mentar (Karni), east of Gaza City, since Tuesday, 21 February 2006, prohibiting the exportation and importation of all goods. This crossing is the only commercial crossing linking the Gaza Strip with the West Bank and the outside world, through Israel. The closure of this crossing has strangled the economy of the Gaza Strip. Exports from the Gaza Strip have been stopped during this peak period of the agricultural season, further reducing monetary flows to Gaza’s population. Basic food commodities, especially dairy products and fruit, are no longer available in the Gaza Strip. The closure of the crossing has also impacted the activities of international humanitarian organisations, as aid supplies designated for the Gaza Strip have been blocked at the Israeli side of the crossing.
According to information received by PCHR, on Thursday morning, 9 March 2006, Israeli occupation authorities allowed the entry of some basic foodstuffs that had been blocked at the Israeli side of the crossing, as a result of the closure. However, Israeli occupation authorities have continued to prohibit exportation of goods from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, Israel and the outside world.
IOF previously closed Al-Mentar crossing on 14 January 2006, claiming that they had received warnings that Palestinian militants were planning an attack on the crossing. During this period of closure, agricultural exports from the Gaza Strip were stopped, resulting in millions of dollars lost in wasted agricultural produce. In addition, some basic foodstuffs, such as sugar, flour and dairy products disappeared from local markets. Construction projects also stopped during this period, due to the lack of construction raw materials. The crossing was reopened on 5 February 2006.
In addition, Israeli occupation authorities have continued to close Sofa crossing, northeast of Rafah, which is designated for the importation of construction raw materials into the Gaza Strip, for the fourth consecutive week. They have also only allowed several hundred Palestinian workers to reach their work places inside Israel through Beit Hanoun (Erez) checkpoint. Passage through the checkpoint is carried out under severe conditions, with long delays for workers. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including newly elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and especially those from the Change and Reform list of Hamas, have been prevented from traveling through this crossing.
PCHR believes that these measures, taken by Israeli occupation authorities, constitute a form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians. PCHR calls on Israeli occupation authorities to fully reopen all border crossings in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the Israeli–Palestinian Agreement on Border Crossings, which allows for the exportation of agricultural products from the Gaza Strip through al-Mentar (Karni) crossing. PCHR reminds the international community that these measures violate the word and spirit of international humanitarian law. PCHR also calls upon the international community to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to respect their legal obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
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