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Press release
Israeli forces declare al-Mawasi “closed military zone”; PCHR calls for international intervention
Ref: 72/2002
Date: 22 May 2002
PCHR calls upon the international community and United Nation bodies to immediately intervene in response to severe new measures imposed upon the al-Mawasi area in the south of the Gaza strip by Israeli occupying forces.
According to PCHR’s investigation, Israeli occupation forces on 20 May issued a military order declaring al-Mawasi, a rural agricultural area on the Gazan coast between Rafah and Khan Yunis, a “closed military zone.” According to the order, the inhabitants in the area are compelled to request a special card and permission from the Israeli Civil Administration to be allowed admission through Israeli checkpoints at Khan Younis and Rafah. These new Israeli measures violate both the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid as well as the Forth Geneva Convention, aimed at protecting civilians during times of war.
An official from the Israeli Civil Administration yesterday afternoon arrived in the al-Mawasi area with list of citizens in the area, ordering those on the list to go to the fishing sheds by the beach in order to obtain new cards and permission to move.
The Israeli military order declaring al-Mawasi a “closed military zone” further deepens its isolation from the rest of the Gaza strip as part of an overall policy of cantonising the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
This latest step by the Israeli army is an extension of the comprehensive curfew imposed on al-Mawasi on 12 May by Israeli occupying forces. As a consequence, people are not allowed to leave their houses, move freely inside the al-Mawasi area or to the rest of the Gaza strip, in violation of the economic and social rights, as well as their political and civil rights.
Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada, Israeli forces have imposed a strict siege on al-Mawasi, prohibiting non-residents of the area from visiting and subjecting all those trying to enter to thorough searches and often humiliation measures at checkpoints. Automobiles, including ambulances, are not allowed to enter or exit the area. Al-Mawasi is located on the edge of a bloc of Israeli settlements built in violation of international humanitarian law. Residents of the area are subjected to frequent harassment and attacks by settlers acting under the protection of the Israeli army.
PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to end Israel’s systematic violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. Furthermore, PCHR calls upon the High Contraction Parties to the Forth Geneva Convention to take concrete and practical steps to secure Israel’s respect for the Convention in the OPT, and to protect Palestinian civilians and their properties.
For further information on al-Mawasi and other “yellow areas” of the Gaza strip from before the al-Aqsa Intifada, consult “The Bitter Life” a report on Israeli violations of human rights, available at www.pchrgaza.org.
