This report addresses the impact of the siege imposed on the Gaza
Strip by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). It refutes Israel’s claims of easing the siege, which has
been imposed for the fifth consecutive year. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has documented the most
significant developments regarding Gaza’s border crossings as follows:

· IOF completely
closed Al-Mentar (Karni) Crossing at the beginning of March. This crossing is located to the east of Gaza
City and is the Gaza Strip’s major commercial crossing for the import and
export of goods since its establishment in 1995. The decision to close it was made in the
context of a plan aimed at tightening the siege on the Gaza Strip which
included using Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing as the sole border
crossing for commercial purposes in the Gaza Strip.

· Imports allowed
into the Gaza Strip during the reporting period reached about 5,180 truckloads;
an average of 133 truckloads daily, which constitutes 23.3 percent of the
average number of truckloads imported daily before mid-June 2007when about 570
truckloads entered daily through all the border crossings.

· These
statistics show that using Karm Abu Salem border crossing as Gaza’s sole
commercial crossing will not meet the needs of the Gaza Strip’s
population. In addition, this crossing
is not equipped for commercial purposes.

· Closing
al-Mentar (Karni) crossing and solely depending on Karm Abu Salem crossing has
exacerbated the hardship of the industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors
in the Gaza Strip. It has also increased
the obstacles associated with movement of the already limited number of goods.
Furthermore, the increase in the cost of transportation means the price of
Gaza’s imports will also increase and that Gaza’s exporters will incur
additional financial burden.

· The cooking gas
crisis that started four months ago has not ended yet due to the closure of
Nahal Oz crossing and the use of Karm Abu Salem crossing, which is not
technically equipped for this purpose. IOF halted the Gaza Strip’s cooking gas supply for 15 days and allowed
the entry of limited quantities (4,530 tons) for 24 days. The daily average was less than 116 tons,
i.e. 39 percent of daily needs during winter, which are 300 tons daily.

· 80 percent of
civilians in the Gaza Strip depend on food aid, provided by UNRWA and other
relief organizations. The number of families living below the poverty line is
increasing. Furthermore, 40 percent of Gaza’s manpower is permanently
unemployed due to the closure of the majority of industrial facilities.

· IOF have
continued to impose a complete ban on exports from the Gaza Strip,
particularly, industrial goods. This
undermines any real possibility of reestablishing industry. Facts on the ground
refute Israel’s claims of allowing the export of 10 truckloads of agricultural
goods daily.

· During the
reporting period, IOF allowed the export of limited quantities of agricultural
goods. 2.8 million flowers were
exported, thus, the quantity of flowers exported has increased since November
2010 to 9.4 million flowers out of 60 million produced in the Gaza Strip
annually. IOF allowed the export of a limited quantity of cherries which did
not exceed 6.6 tons. It should be noted
that the Gaza Strip’s export of agricultural goods in 2005 reached an average
of 70 truckloads daily.

· IOF have
allowed the entry of 20 vehicles into the Gaza Strip weekly; however, last
July, it was announced that 60 vehicles would be allowed to enter weekly. During the reporting period, the number of vehicles
allowed to enter the Gaza Strip was 180 vehicles; this is a total of 880
vehicles over a seven-month period.

· During the
reporting period, Karm Abu Salem crossing was closed for 15 days. On the days
it was open, 4,570 truckloads of goods and aid were allowed in; 1,750 of them
included goods that were allowed to enter of late. Contrary to Israel’s claims of doubling the
number of truckloads to enter the Gaza Strip, the limited quantities of goods
allowed in do not meet the minimum needs of the population.

· IOF have
continued to impose a ban on the import of construction material for four
years. During the reporting period, IOF
agreed to import limited quantities of construction material for international
organizations. The construction material included 70,000 tons of construction
aggregate,
3,250 tons of cement and 1,315 tons of construction iron for projects of UNRWA,
UNDP, ANERA, and the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU). This was done
under the pretext of facilitation declared by IOF last June.

· IOF completely
closed Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to the movement of Palestinian civilians for
six days. They have imposed further
restrictions on the categories of persons allowed to travel via the crossing.

· IOF continued
to impose restrictions on the limited number of patients (suffering from serious
medical conditions) transferred to Israeli and/or Palestinian
hospitals. The crossing was closed for
six days and on the days it was open, 1,090 patients were allowed to travel via
the crossing; i.e. an average of 28 patients daily which constitutes 56 percent
of the daily average that was allowed to cross during the first half of 2006.

· IOF have
continued to impose a ban on the entry of journalists, diplomats and workers of
international humanitarian organizations.  During the days on which the
crossing was open, IOF allowed approximately 95 journalists, 130 diplomats and
1,000 workers of international humanitarian organizations to enter
Gaza, often under very complicated security procedures which resulted in
several days’ delays for many of those allowed to enter.

· The crossing
was closed to businesspeople for 11 days. 1,650 traders were allowed to pass
via the crossing; i.e. an average of 42 traders during that period. This is a
sharp decline in comparison to the number of businesspeople who were allowed to
travel via the crossing prior to June 2007 when an average of 150 traders were
allowed to travel via the crossing daily.

· For more than
45 months, IOF have prevented the families of 710 Palestinians from Gaza
detained in Israeli jails from visiting their imprisoned relatives without
providing any clear reason for such an unjustified measure, one which violates
the international humanitarian law.

· Rafah
International Crossing Point has been opened for the movement of persons. During the reporting period, 7,000 persons
travelled abroad and 4,200 persons entered the Gaza Strip via the crossing,
while 950 were turned back at the border by Egyptian authorities.

The full report is available here.