Ref: 52/2021
Date: 10 May 2021
Time: 10:30 GMT
On Monday, 10 May 2021, IOF completely closed Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossing and Gaza Sea as part of its collective punishment policy against the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) follow-up, the Israeli authorities declared today morning closure of Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing and said that only humanitarian cases would be allowed to cross. The occupation authorities also declared complete closure of the sea and banned fishing starting from today morning until further notice. Israeli authorities alleged that these measures were motivated by “the continued rocket-firing from the Gaza Strip to Israel.”
These decisions are part of the comprehensive closure and illegal and inhuman collective punishment policy imposed by IOF on the Gaza Strip; additionally, these measures negatively affect the already-limited groups that were allowed to travel through Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing.
The decision to close the Gaza sea and ban fishermen from fishing and sailing has affected the livelihoods of 4,160 fishermen and 700 workers in professions associated with the fishing sector; the main providers for their families (a total of 27,700 persons) are threatened with further deterioration. Even before this decision, Gazan fishermen already suffered and were unable to fish and sail freely in the allowed fishing area due to the recurrent Israeli attacks at sea and the ban on the entry of equipment and necessary supplies for fishermen. Consequently, hundreds of fishermen are effectively unable to provide for their families’ basic needs, such as food, medicine, clothing, and education.
Furthermore, the impact of the new Israeli decisions would deepen the humanitarian and living crises in the Gaza Strip, especially raising unemployment, poverty and food insecurity. Statistics among the Gaza Strip population indicate a dangerous unemployment rate at 45%, i.e. 217,100 unemployed workers; this rate is highest among youth at 63%. Also, more than half of the Gaza Strip population suffers poverty, as data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) indicate that the prevalence of poverty among the Gaza Strip population exceeds 53%, and more than 62.2% of the Gaza population is classified as food insecure according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
PCHR emphasizes that the decisions to tighten the closure on the Gaza Strip constitute a form of collective punishment and a retaliatory act committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian civilians.
Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to:
