[News] Strangulation of Gaza Strip after Disengagement

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Human Rights
New Report Warns Against Continued Strangulation of Gaza Strip after 
Disengagement
Report, B'Tselem/HaMoked, 29 March 2005

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Israel has cut off the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world to such an 
extent that it is easier for Palestinians in Israel or the West Bank to 
visit relatives in prison than visit a relative in Gaza.

This is one conclusion of the 100-page report that B’Tselem and HaMoked 
publish today. One Big Prison documents the ongoing violations of human 
rights and international law resulting from Israel’s restrictions on the 
movement of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, Israel, and 
the rest of the world. The report also warns against Israel’s attempt to 
avoid its responsibility toward residents of the Gaza Strip following 
disengagement.

Despite the easing of restrictions that Israel declared following the Sharm 
el-Sheikh summit in February 2005, there has been almost no improvement in 
the movement of Palestinians to and from Gaza, nor in the movement of 
goods. The report illustrates the extent to which Israel treats many 
fundamental human rights – among them the right to freedom of movement, 
family life, health, education, and work – as “humanitarian gestures” that 
it grants or denies at will.

Report Highlights:

As a result of the economic siege on Gaza, more than 77 percent of Gazans 
(1,033,500 people) now live below the poverty line - almost double the 
number before the intifada. Some 23 percent of Gazans (over 323,000 people) 
are in “deep poverty,” meaning that they do not reach the subsistence 
poverty line even after receiving aid from international agencies.

The forced isolation of Gaza tears many Palestinians from their families, 
and in some cases even separates spouses. The report includes the 
testimonies of a woman whose husband was expelled from the West Bank to 
Gaza, and of a mother whose son has never seen his father.

Almost all the restrictions on movement are imposed on entire categories of 
people, based on sweeping criteria, without checking if the individual 
poses a security risk, and without weighing the harm the person will 
suffer, or if less harmful alternatives are available. In most cases, where 
Israel denies a permit and human rights organizations intervene, Israel 
reverses its decision to avoid an embarrassing legal challenge.

Most components of the policy of strangulation are illegal under 
international and Israeli law.

The strangulation of the Gaza Strip increased following Palestinian attacks 
against civilians in Israel and the Occupied Territories over the past few 
years. Targetting civilians is a “war crime” and never justified. Israel is 
entitled, even obligated, to protect its citizens. However, Israel’s right 
to self-defense does not permit it to trample on the rights of an entire 
population.

Israel declared that “completion of the disengagement will invalidate the 
claims against Israel on its responsibility for the Palestinians in the 
Gaza Strip.” In the report, HaMoked and B’Tselem emphasize that all the 
suffering described in the report is likely to continue, and even worsen, 
after disengagement, for which Israel will be continue to bear legal 
responsibility.

Related Links
<http://www.btselem.org/Download/200503_Gaza_Prison_Abstract_English.doc>One 
Big Prison: Freedom of Movement to and from the Gaza Strip on the Eve of 
the Disengagement Plan (Word-document) HaMoked, B'Tselem (March 2005)
<http://www.btselem.org>B'Tselem
<http://www.hamoked.org.il/index_en.asp>HaMoked
<http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/259.shtml>BY TOPIC: Gaza Disengagement



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