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Israeli occupation forces seize full control of Rafah Border Crossing
Ref: 61/2001
Date: 23 October 2001
In a serious, unprecedented development, Israeli occupation forces imposed new measures at Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza strip that make all procedures for travel followed since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994 null and void. Israeli forces have expelled all Palestinian officials working at the crossing and have assumed full control of the facility.
According to information gathered by PCHR’s field officers, Israeli forces seized control of Rafah Border Crossing on 18 October 2001, prohibiting Palestinian officials who work at the crossing from entering. The new measures included the stamping of Palestinian passports by Israeli authorities, rendering Palestinian stamps null and void. Even when PNA officials stamped passports outside the crossing, Israeli forces stamped the word “cancelled” in Arabic, English, and Hebrew over the Palestinian stamps. These measures continued until Monday, 22 October 2001, when the PNA protested against them, as they contradict the agreements signed between the two parties.
It is worth mentioning that Israeli forces have maintained a total siege on the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada. Since 8 October 2000, they have frequently closed Rafah Border Crossing, seriously impacting travelers at the crossing, who were often left stranded. Over the summer, Israeli forces prohibited the entry of thousands of Palestinians into the Gaza Strip through the crossing. It was later partially reopened for limited working hours due to international pressure, but the travel of Palestinians from and to the Gaza Strip remained restricted.
PCHR condemns the new abusive Israeli measures and considers them a grave qualitative development and a deterioration of the right of the PNA to control crossings designed for the movement of individuals and goods. PCHR considers these measures an escalation of the policy of collective punishment adopted by Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people. Moreover, PCHR warns of the dangers these measures pose for Palestinians traveling to and from Arab countries, which do not recognise Israeli stamps on Palestinian passports, as Israel is an occupying power in the Palestinian Territories.
PCHR is deeply concerned that these measures might be part of recent actions carried out by Israeli forces, which include the reoccupation of several Palestinian cities under the full control of the PNA and the imposition of Israeli military control over all the PNA-administered areas.
