The 2007–2009 blockade of the Gaza Strip
Encyclopedia
The blockade of the Gaza Strip refers to a land, air, and sea blockade
on the Gaza Strip
by Israel
and Egypt
since June 2007, a more severe version of restrictions which began in 2001. Israel eased the blockade for non-military goods in June 2010, and Egypt reopened the Rafah border crossing in 2011 for persons.
In 2006 Hamas
won the Palestinian legislative election
, triggering the 2006-2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority by Israel and the Quartet on the Middle East
. In March 2007, Hamas and Fatah
formed a Palestinan authority national unity government headed by Ismail Haniya
. Shortly after, in June, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza
, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own. Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel largely sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled and was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side.
Israel maintains that the blockade is necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks
from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons. Prior to its 2011 opening of the Rafah crossing, Egypt maintained that it could not fully open its side of the border since completely opening the border would represent Egyptian recognition of the Hamas control of Gaza, undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian National Authority
and consecrate the split between Gaza and the West Bank.
Facing mounting international calls to ease or lift their blockade in response to the Gaza flotilla raid
, Egypt and Israel lessened the restrictions starting in June 2010. Israel announced that it will allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza while preventing certain weapons and what it designates as "dual-use" items from entering Gaza. Egypt partly opened the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza, primarily for people, but not for supplies, to go through. Israel continues to severely restrict and/or prevent people from entering or exiting Gaza. The Israeli NGO Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement asserted in a July 2010 report that Israel continues to prevent normal functioning of the Gazan economy. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) conducted an assessment of the humanitarian impact of the easing of the blockage in January and February 2011 and concluded that they did not result in a significant improvement in people’s livelihoods.
Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing permanently on 28 May 2011. Women of all ages and men aged below 18 and above 40 are able to enter Egypt without a visa, although there are still severe restrictions on the movement of personnel and goods to and from Gaza. In practice, however, a great deal of goods are smuggled in through tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, and the quantity of goods smuggled in has increased greatly since the Egyptian revolution in early 2011.
Opinion on the legality of the blockade is mixed. In September 2011, a UN investigative committee concluded in the Palmer Report that the naval blockade is legal and had to be judged isolated from the restrictions on goods reaching Gaza via the land crossings. Concerning the restrictions on goods reaching Gaza via the land crossings the Palmer report stated that they were the main reason for a unsustainable and unacceptable humanitarian situation in Gaza. UN envoy Desmond Tutu
, United Nations Human Rights Council
head Navi Pillay, the International Committee of the Red Cross
and, according to Richard Falk, most experts on international law consider the blockade illegal.
When the Al-Aqsa Intifada
broke out in September 2000 Israel put trade restrictions on the Gaza Strip
and closed the Gaza International Airport. The economic effects worsened after the creation of a ‘buffer zone’ in September 2001, that would seal all entry and exit points in the Palestinian Territories
for "security reasons." After 9 October 2001, movement of people and goods across the ‘Green Line
’ dividing the West Bank
from Israel
, and between the Gaza Strip and Israel, was halted, and a complete internal closure was effected on 14 November 2001. The worsening economic and humanitarian situation raised great concern abroad. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in January 2003, the Israeli blockade and closures had pushed the Palestinian economy into a stage of de-development and drained as much as US $2.4 billion out of the economy of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
. An 'Agreement on Movement and Access' between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was brokered by Condoleezza Rice
in November 2005 to improve Palestinian freedom of movement and economic activity in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah
crossing with Egypt
was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Palestinian National Authority and the European Union
. Only people with Palestinian ID, or foreign nationals, by exception, in certain categories, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. All goods, vehicles and trucks to and from Egypt had to pass through the Israeli crossing at Kerem Shalom
, under full Israeli supervision. Goods were also permitted transit at the Karni crossing
in the north.
imposed by Israel
and the Quartet on the Middle East
against the Palestinian National Authority
and the Palestinian territories
following the January 2006 legislative elections
that brought Hamas
to power. In March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council
established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas
, the chairman on the Palestinian Authority, in a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah.
Throughout 2006, the Karni crossing
remained only partially operational, costing Palestinians losses of $500,000 a day, as less than 10% of the Gaza Strip's minimal daily export targets were achieved. Basic food commodities were severely depleted, bakeries closed and food rationing was introduced.
officials. Following the Battle of Gaza
, the international sanctions were terminated in June 2007 while at the same time a new and more severe blockade of the Gaza Strip was initiated.
In response to the violent clashes, President Abbas declared a state of emergency and dissolved the national unity government on 14 June. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called this decision "hasty", and pledged to stay in power. Hamas gained complete control of the Gaza Strip on 15 June, after forcing out Fatah.
Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel largely sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled and was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side.
In July 2007, Israeli officials planned an opening of the Rafah border crossing in order to allow stranded Palestinians to return, but the plan was cancelled after Hamas threatened to fire on the refugees.
A Jerusalem Post article mentions Hamas' complaints that since June 2008 the P.A. does not deliver any more passports to the Gazans thus trapping them tightly.
Egypt, fearing a spill-over of Hamas-style militancy into their territory, kept its border with Gaza largely sealed. Israel sealed the border completely on 17 January in response to rocket attacks on southern Israel and Palestinian militant attacks on crossing points between Israel and Gaza.
The Egyptian government feared also that Iran wants to establish a base in its territory as well as in Gaza through its proxy Hizbullah following the 2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt
. Almasryalyoum: Haaretz:
The breach of the Gaza-Egypt border began on 23 January 2008, after gunmen in the Gaza Strip
set off an explosion near the Rafah Border Crossing, destroying part of the former Israeli Gaza Strip barrier
. The United Nations estimated that as many as half of the population of the Gaza Strip crossed the border into Egypt
seeking food and supplies. Israel said that militants had exploited the breach in the border wall to send armed men into the Sinai to infiltrate Israel across the Sinai-Israel border. Egyptian troops at first permitted crossing but did not allow Palestinians to travel further than El Arish. On 25 January, Egyptian forces blocked almost all illegal entry
points to stem the flow of Gazans pouring in, and Egyptian riot police erected barbed wire and chain-link fences along the border. Palestinians used a bulldozer to knock down the fence and once again flooded in. Egyptian border police began stopping Palestinians from crossing and sealed the road from Rafah to El Arish. On 28 January, Egyptian security forces and Hamas militants strung barbed wire across one of the breaches, sealing it off. The Egyptians began repairing one of the two remaining breaches on 29 January, and closed the border with the Gaza Strip on 3 February 2008.
continued to inspect all humanitarian aid for Gaza and delivering approved items through the crossing points of Karni
, Kerem Shalom, Erez
, and Sufa
.
Throughout this period, Hamas
launched raids against these crossing points. The first was an 9 April infiltration by four Hamas fighters through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The four fighters attacked a terminal in Nahal Oz
being used to deliver fuel to Gaza, killing two workers. Three of the fighters were subsequently killed by Israeli strikes as they attempted to flee.
On 19 April, Hamas launched another attack against a border crossing in the early morning hours. Three fighters were killed in the operation, and thirteen Israeli soldiers were wounded.
between Israel and Hamas in June 2008, Israel agreed to lift its blockade of Gaza Strip. It was reported that in August 2008, Israel was still allowing in very few goods. At Egypt's request, Israel did not always respond to Palestinian cease fire violations by closing the border.
Israel accused Hamas of transporting weapons into Gaza via tunnels to Egypt, failing to stop rocket attacks, and noted that Hamas would not continue negotiating the release of Israeli hostage
Gilad Shalit
, who had been held by Hamas since 2006. Hamas' decision alienated it from the government of Egypt, which had linked the opening of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing with Shalit's release. In the early stage of the cease-fire, Israeli officials had stated that they found “a certain sense of progress” on Shalit's release.
The UN recorded seven Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) violations of the ceasefire between 20 and 26 June, and three violations by Palestinian groups not affiliated with Hamas between 23 and 26 June. On 18 December, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
, the military wing of Hamas, reported 185 Israeli violations during the lull period. The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
reported a total of 223 rockets and 139 mortar shells fired from Gaza during the lull, including 20 rockets and 18 mortar shells before 4 November. It noted that "Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire" until 4 November, when the ceasefire was "seriously eroded." Rocket fire decreased by 98 percent in the four and a half months between 18 June and 4 November when compared to the four and half months preceding the ceasefire. Hamas denied responsibility for the rocket fire during the lull. Human Rights Watch reported that while Hamas security forces demonstrated an ability to curb rocket fire, while some people detained for rocket firing were released without explanation.
In August 2008, the first NGO
-organized attempt to breach Israel's maritime closure of the Gaza Strip took place when two vessels manned by activists from the Free Gaza Movement
and International Solidarity Movement
sailed from Cyprus
towards Gaza, carrying hearing aids and balloons. The boats reached Gaza on 23 August after the Israeli government decided to let them through.
On 28 October 2008, the 66-foot yacht Dignity, manned by Free Gaza Movement
activists and carrying medical supplies, docked in Gaza harbor. Israel had intially decided to stop the vessel, but the decision was made to let it through just before it reached Gaza.
Mark Regev
, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
stated "We want to make sure that reconstruction for the people of Gaza is not reconstruction for the Hamas regime." U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said on 25 February that "Aid should never be used as a political weapon. We'll try to push to get into Gaza as many supplies as possible."
The Olmert
cabinet had decided in March 2009 that food and medical supplies to Gaza would be allowed through unfettered. This was met with resistance by Israel's Defense Ministry, which controls the border crossings.
An Israeli military spokesperson said that each item was decided on an individual basis and that food was being let through daily. According to Tel Aviv NGO Gisha, the amount of food entering Gaza is as of May 2009, about 25% of the pre-June 2007 figures. A UN study has found that Gazan families are eating fewer meals a day and mainly relying on carbohydrates such as rice and flour because protein foods are expensive or unavailable. Chicken eggs have doubled in price due to the destruction of chicken coops during the Gaza War.
, where the Israeli government had said it would inspect the aid and deliver (or let humanitarian organizations deliver) Israeli-approved items to Gaza.
Israeli Shayetet 13
naval commandos boarded the ships from speedboats and helicopters launched from three missile ships. On the MV Mavi Marmara
, the main ship of the convoy, passengers fiercely resisted the boarding with makeshift weapons and live fire, including from guns seized from soldiers. Passengers managed to capture three soldiers. After failing to disperse the activists using non-lethal means, the soldiers resorted to live fire. On other ships, soldiers were met with passive resistance which was easily suppressed with non-lethal tecniques. Nine passengers were killed and dozens wounded. Nine soldiers were also injured, two of them seriously. All of the ships were seized and towed to Ashdod, while passengers were imprisoned in Israel and then deported to their home countries. were shot The MV Rachel Corrie
, a seventh ship that had been delayed, set sail from Malta
on the same day of the flotilla's interception. Israeli naval vessels shadowed the Rachel Corrie, and after it ignored three warnings, Israeli commandos boarded the ship from speedboats, arrested the crew, and forced it to sail to Ashdod.
s assembled a flotilla of 10 vessels and 1,000 activists to breach the blockade. The vessels docked in Greece
in preperation for the journey to Gaza. However, the Greek government announced that it would not allow the vessels to leave for Gaza, and the Hellenic Coast Guard
stopped three vessels attempting to evade the travel ban and leave port. On 7 July, most activists left for home, leaving only a few dozen to continue the initiative. On 16 July, the French yacht Dignite Al Karama was allowed to leave port after informing Greek authorities that its destination was Alexandria
, Egypt
. Instead, the yacht headed directly for Gaza. The Israeli Navy stopped the Dignite Al Karama about 65 kilometers off Gaza. After the boat was warned and refused to turn back, it was surrounded by three Israeli naval vessels and boarded by Shayetet 13
commandos, who took it over. The boat was then taken to Ashdod.
, Israel and Egypt faced mounting international calls to ease or lift their blockade.
On 1 June 2010, the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza was partially opened. Egypt’s foreign ministry has made it clear that the crossing will remain open mainly for people, not for aid, to go through. Several aid trucks began making it into Gaza during the following morning including some carrying power generators from the Egyptian Red Crescent, and hundreds of Gazans who had been staying in Egypt returned home, although little traffic, human or cargo, flowed from Gaza to Egypt. On 3 June, the manager of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, Salameh Barakeh, explained that the crossing is open for the free travel of patients, foreign passport holders, those with residency status in other countries, students and internationals. The Arab Physicians Union officials submitted a request to Egyptian authorities on 3 June 2010 to send 400 tons of food, blankets, electric generators for hospitals and construction material from Egypt to Gaza, but their request was denied by Egyptian authorities without specific reason. Emad Gad, political analyst at Egyptian Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the government should keep the Rafah border under control because opening it completely could allow weapons smuggling or illegal financial transactions.
On 17 June 2010, Israel's Prime Minister's Office announced that Israel's security cabinet had agreed to relax Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, and issued an English-language press release, according to which a decision to ease the blockade had been made. The English text reads: "It was agreed to liberalize the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza [and] expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision." However, no binding decision has been made during the cabinet meeting, and an announcement issued in Hebrew did not mention any such decision. The Prime Minister's office said that a meeting would be held soon, and expressed hope that a binding decision will be taken then.
On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more – as well as (projects) that are under international supervision." Despite the easing of the land blockade, Israel announced to continue to inspect all goods bound for Gaza by sea at the port of Ashdod. Internationally, this decision received mixed reactions.
, who welcomed Israel's decision to ease the restrictions on behalf of the Quartet on the Middle East
, said that the Quartet – the UN, US, EU, and Russia – would continue talks with Israel "to flesh out the principles". Suggesting that "items of ordinary daily life, including materials for the construction of homes, infrastructure and services as the UN have asked" should be allowed to enter Gaza, he stated that "the decision to allow foodstuffs and household items is a good start". A spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations declared that the Secretary-General would be encouraged that the Israeli government is reviewing its policy towards Gaza. He added that the United Nations would continue to seek a fundamental change in policy as agreed by the Quartet. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri
said that Israel's decision would have been designed to "beautify" the blockade and mislead public opinion.
A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "It is good that Israel is giving serious consideration to resolving these issues, [b]ut further work is needed. We need to see the additional steps still to be announced." EU officials also said they were disappointed by the decision. German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel
said that the Israeli announcement was "not sufficient". During a visit to the country, Niebel intended to visit a sewage treatment plant being financed with German development aid, but was denied entry into the Gaza strip by Israel. He commented that the Israeli government sometimes would "not make it easy for its friends to explain why it behaves the way it does." A spokesperson for Israel's Foreign Ministry responded that Israel would have been obliged to allow any other European minister entry if it had allowed Niebel to visit the Gaza strip, thus conferring additional legitimacy to the Hamas government.
Chris Gunness from UNRWA criticised Israel's move to ease the blockade as not being adequate, saying that "Even if the blockade is eased it remains illegal under international law as it is a collective form of punishment on a civilian population. Eighty percent of Gaza's population is aid-dependent. Allowing more aid in is perpetuating this dependency and not addressing the issue of self- sufficiency or the root causes of the crisis. What have not been addressed by the easing of the closure are the issues of exports as well as the limited number of crossings open to facilitate the flow of goods. Operation Cast Lead destroyed at least 60,000 homes and structures which need to be urgently repaired and rebuilt. The easing of the blockade is not addressing this adequately."
Maxwell Gaylard, UN Deputy Special and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Middle East also criticised Israel, saying "Permitting mayonnaise and potato chips into Gaza is really irrelevant in dealing with the underlying issues. What we need to see is an improvement in Gaza's water, sanitation, power grid, educational and health sectors. Gaza's economy is shot to pieces and its infrastructure is extremely fragile."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision enabled Israel to focus on real security issues and would eliminate "Hamas' main propaganda claim," and that it would strengthen the case for keeping the sea blockade in place. He also said the decision would have been coordinated with the United States and with Tony Blair
, the representative of the Quartet for the Middle East. Blair characterized the decision as a "very significant step forward", but added that the decision needs to be implemented. In a statement, the Quartet said that the situation remained "unsustainable and unacceptable" and maintained that a long-term solution was urgently needed. The UNRWA called for a complete lift of the Gaza blockade, expressing concern that the new policy would continue to limit Gaza's ability to develop on its own. The European Union's representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, welcomed the decision. She called the step "a significant improvement" and expressed the expectation that the measures take effect as soon as possible, adding that "more work remains to be done." The U.S. government welcomed the decision, expressing the belief that the easing would significantly improve the lives of Gaza Strip residents and prevent weapons smuggling. It expressed its intention to contribute to an international effort to "explore additional ways to improve the situation in Gaza, including greater freedom of movement and commerce between Gaza and the West Bank." Hamas
dismissed the measures as trivial and "media propaganda", and demanded a complete lifting of the blockade, including the removal on all restrictions on the import of construction material. Israeli Arab member of Knesset Hanin Zoabi commented that the easing of the blockade would prove that "it is not a security blockade, but a political one," adding that the flotilla "succeeded in undermining the blockade's legitimacy."
The U.S., United Nations, European Union and Russia are jointly consulting with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt on additional measures, described by the United States Department of State
as a "fundamental change in policy" toward the Gaza strip.
Lieberman proposed that units of the French Foreign Legion
and commando units from EU member states be sent in to secure the Gaza border crossings to prevent the smuggling of weapons, and that the border with Israel be sealed. Ships that underwent inspections in Cyprus
or Greece
would be allowed to dock in Gaza and unload humanitarian cargoes. The EU would help improve and build civilian infrastructure, and Gaza would become a fully independent entity.
They found that a limited reactivation of the private sector resulted from the increased availability of consumer goods and some raw materials but the "pivotal nature of the remaining restrictions" and the effects of three years of strict blockade prevented a significant improvement in livelihoods. Although the unemployment rate in Gaza fell from 39.3% to 37.4% in the second half of 2010 there were significant food price rises. There was little or no improvement in food insecurity rates in Gaza which continued to affect 52% of the population. Few of the 40,000 housing units needed to replace homes lost during Operation Cast Lead and for natural population growth could be built as a result of the ongoing restrictions on importing building materials. The approval of over 100 projects funded by international organizations intended to improve the "extremely deteriorated" water and sanitation, education and health services, followed the easing of the blockade. The implementation of these projects was delayed by the entry approval process for materials and the limited opening of the Karni crossing. OCHA found that there had been no improvement in the quality of services provided to the population of the Gaza Strip as a result of the projects so far. There was no significant increase in the number of exit permits granted by Israel to allow access to the outside world including other parts of the Palestinan territories. Permits continued to be issued by Israel only on a exceptional basis with a 114 being issued during the second half of 2010. OCHA described Egypt’s move to regularly operate its crossing with Gaza for special categories of people as a "significant, albeit limited, improvement".
They concluded that the easing of restrictions was "a step in the right direction" but called on Israel to fully abolish the blockade including removing restrictions on the import of construction materials and the exports of goods, and to lift the general ban on the movement of people between Gaza and the West Bank via Israel in order to comply with what they described as international humanitarian and human rights law obligations.
, Karni
, Erez
, and Sufa
crossings. All aid first undergoes security inspection before being transferred by truck into Gaza.
Egypt has built an underground barrier to block smuggling tunnels, and the Egyptian Border Police maintains a presence along the Egypt-Gaza border. The Rafah Border Crossing is the only lawful crossing point between Egypt and Gaza, and is manned by Palestinian Authority security forces and the European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah
. All humanitarian supplies are transferred through Israel or Egypt via the land crossings after security inspection.
from aid organizations into the Gaza Strip. According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
of the Israel Defense Forces, in May 2010, this included over 1.5 million litres of diesel fuel and gasoline, fruits and vegetables, wheat, sugar, meat, chicken and fish products, dairy products, animal feed, hygiene products, clothing and shoes.
Israel announced on June 2010 it would allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza while preventing certain weapons and dual-use items from entering the Hamas-run Gaza.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs at various times, Israel has blocked goods including wheelchair
s, dry food items, and crayon
s, stationary
, soccer balls, and musical instruments. International aid group Mercy Corps
said it was blocked from sending 90 tons of macaroni and other foodstuffs. After international pressure, Israeli authorities said that they were giving the shipment a green light. Israel was also reported to have prevented aid groups from sending in other items, such as paper, crayons, tomato paste and lentils. Because of an Israeli ban on the importation of construction materials (such as cement and steel) for fear of Hamas using them to build bunkers and fortified positions from which to shell villages in Israel, the UN Relief and Works Agency built at least one mud brick home, and planned to build up to 120. Aid agencies say that food waits on trucks and in warehouses, and many basic items are rejected by Israel as "luxuries" or are turned down for unexplained reasons. Tin cans are banned because the tin might be melted down and used to build weaponry or structures by Hamas, making it hard for Gazan farmers to preserve their vegetables.
In January, 2010, the Israeli group Gisha took Israeli authorities to court, forcing them to reveal which goods were permitted and which goods weren't. The Israeli government replied that canned fruit, fruit juices and chocolate are blocked, while at the same time canned meat, canned tuna, mineral water, sesame paste
, tea and coffee are allowed into the Gaza Strip.
According to the Failing Gaza after one year report by Amnesty International
and other organisations cement, glass, steel, bitumen, wood, paint, doors, plastic pipes, metal pipes, metal reinforcement rods, aggregate, generators, high voltage cables and wooden telegraph poles are "high priority reconstruction materials currently with no or highly limited entry into Gaza through official crossings." A 2009 UN report by Kevin M. Cahill called the restrictions "Draconian", and said that reconstruction is halted because Israel does not permit the importation of steel, cement or glass, among other building materials, and has restricted importation of lentil
s, pasta, tomato paste
and juice, as well as batteries for hearing aids for deaf children. He said that despite the restrictions UNRWA has been able to provide a basic food supply to over a million refugees in the Gaza Strip. He added that he "visited a food station where hundreds of displaced persons waited to collect their meager staples of rice, sugar, lentils and cooking oil. While this program may save people from starvation, it is a diet that does not prevent the highest level of anemia
in the region, with alarming rates of childhood stunting due to inadequate nutrition."
The Palestinians who negotiated the 2008 cease-fire believed that the commerce in Gaza was to be restored to the levels preceding Israel's withdrawal in 2005 and Hamas's electoral victory. Israeli policy tied the easing of the blockade on success in reducing rocket fire. Israel permitted a 20% increase in goods trucked into Gaza in the pre-lull period, up from 70 to 90 truckloads a day, including not only humanitarian supplies but also clothes, shoes, refrigerators, and construction materials. Fuel supplies increased from 55MW worth to 65MW worth. BBC News
reported in 11 November that Gaza was then receiving only 28% of the amount of goods traded before the Hamas takeover.
Over the one month period from 4 November to 8 December, approximately 700 truck loads of goods went into Gaza, accounting for approximately 1/40th of estimated pre-blockade commerce.
Israel stated that food imports into the Strip were restricted by its inability to operate at border checkpoints. It accused Hamas of exacerbating fuel shortages by leading labor union strikes by power plant workers. It has also accused Hamas of underfunding the Gaza health care system, and then blaming the situation on Israel despite supposed free trade of medical supplies. Shipments of permitted aid including medicines have expired
due to the time taken to get permission to pass through border crossings requiring their destruction. Israel states that three people claimed to require medical attention in Israel were in fact planning attacks in Israel as the reason why Israel imposes travel restrictions on Gazans.
The tunnels are mainly located at Rafah
on the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The tunnels connect the Egyptian town of Rafah
with the Palestinian
refugee camp
of Rafah
. As a result of the blockade, these tunnels have become a vital supply artery for Gaza.
The tunnels are used for various purposes. They have been used to transport people (in and out) and commercial materials like medicine, food and clothes, cigarettes, alcohol, and vehicle parts into Gaza. Israel says they are used to smuggle what it claims to be illegal arms (including rockets, mortars and explosives) to Gaza militants. Often cars are sliced into four parts and transported across and re-assembled in Gaza. Ahead of the Islamic festival, Eid al-Adha, they were used to transport live cattle.
According to a tunnel operator, Israel bombards tunnels from the air, while Egypt either pumps poisonous gases, water or detonates explosives to destroy the tunnels. During the Gaza war, Israel destroyed most of the tunnels, reducing their number to 150 (from 3000) as of late 2009. Egypt is constructing an underground steel barrier to prevent circumvention of the blockade through tunnels.
In July, 2008, an UNRWA report on the situation in Gaza stated that "the number of households in Gaza below the consumption poverty line continued to grow, reaching 51.8 percent in 2007 (from 50.7 percent in 2006)". In the same year, a Palestinian Bureau of Statistics study concluded that 80% of families in Gaza were living below the poverty line. The CIA World Fact book places this figure at an estimated 70% for 2009.
A World Health Organisation assessment conducted in 2009 claimed that the level of anemia in babies (9–12 months) was as high as 65%, while a Socio-economic and Food Security Survey Report stated that 61% of Gazans are food insecure and reliant on humanitarian aid. Of those that are food insecure, 65% are children under 18 years. Lastly, a European Network of Implementing Development Agencies (EUNIDA) report notes that, because of the security buffer zone imposed around Gaza as part of the blockade, as of June 2009, 46% of agricultural land was either inaccessible or out of production.
On 14 June 2010, the International Committee of the Red Cross
noted that the increasing scarcity of items has led to rises in cost of goods while quality has fallen. There is also "an acute electricity crisis", where electricity supplies are "interrupted for seven hours a day on average". As a consequence, they note that public services, particularly health services, have suffered, posing "a serious risk to the treatment of patients". In addition, medical equipment is difficult to repair, and medical staff cannot leave to gain more training. Lastly, the ICRC note that sanitation is suffering, because construction projects lack the equipment needed, or the equipment is of poor quality. Only 60% of the population is connected to a sewerage collection system, with the rest polluting the Gaza aquifer. As a result, water is largely "unfit for consumption".
A 25 May 2010 United Nations Development Programme report stated that, as a result of the blockade, most of Gaza's manufacturing industry has closed, and unemployment stood at an estimated 40%, a decrease on previous years. The blockade has also prevented much needed construction, noting that almost "none of the 3,425 homes destroyed during Cast Lead have been reconstructed, displacing around 20,000 people". Less than 20% "of the value of the damages to educational facilities has been repaired", only "half of the damage to the power network has been repaired", "no repair has been made to the transport infrastructure", "a quarter of damaged farmland has been rehabilitated and only 40% of private businesses have been repaired".
, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, obtained an Israeli government document which says "A country has the right to decide that it chooses not to engage in economic relations or to give economic assistance to the other party to the conflict, or that it wishes to operate using 'economic warfare,' ". Sari Bashi, the director of Gisha, said that this showed that Israel wasn't imposing its blockade for its stated reasons of a security measure to prevent weapons from entering Gaza, but rather as collective punishment for the Palestinian population of Gaza.
In November 2010, the Israeli government allowed Gaza to resume agricultural exports, while still banning industrial exports. Shortly afterward, Gazan farmers began exporting strawberries
, peppers
, carnation
s, and cherry tomato
es. The exports travel to Europe via Israel, and Israel then transfers the money to agricultural cooperatives, which in turn pay the Palestinian farmers. The exports were implemented with aid from the Netherlands
, which was monitored by the Israeli defense establishment.
s permanently patrol Gaza’s coastline and routinely fire on Palestinian fishing vessels who go more than 6 nautical miles from shore. Israel has intercepted a number of vessels providing aid for Gaza, claiming that they may be providing goods that may be used to build arms. Cynthia McKinney
and Mairead Maguire were captured by Israel attempting to sail to Gaza and deported. The supplies McKinney and Maguire were carrying on board were later delivered to Gaza over land by truck.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
has said that Turkish warships will escort Turkish boats bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
. The agreement wasn't implemented and Israel allows fishermen to travel only 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) offshore, reduced from 6 nmi (11.1 km) in 2007. Israeli officials say the restrictions are necessary because of past incidents of Palestinians using fishing boats for smuggling and attacks. One fisherman who went outside these limits was forced to strip down to his underwear and swim to a naval vessel. He was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken in for questioning. The Israeli Navy's response was that it was checking for weapons. The Navy reports they intercepted the craft entering Gaza from Egypt. B'Tselem has released a report documenting the "continual shooting at, abuse of, and humiliation of" Palestinian fishermen.
According to the Fishing Under Fire Report 2009, since the declaration of the "ceasefire"(18 January 2009), till the end of 2009:
– 1 fisherman was killed by naval gunfire.
– at least 7 fishermen have been injured by naval gunfire and at least another one sustained burns after shelling in the sea, while another fisherman was reported by several media to be lightly injured by gunfire, but his name wasn't reported.
– at least 6 Palestinian civilians were injured on shore by Israeli Naval gunfire (among them 4 children) and several others have been reportedly injured (among them another 5 fishermen have been reportedly injured on shore by Israeli shelling)
– 68 arrests of fishermen have been reported (at least 2 fishermen arrests twice) and 29 "confiscations" of fishing boats. Several fishing boats have been returned but with damages and equipment missing, and at least one hassaka (small fishing boat) was confiscated again.
– 1 Greek boat of the Free Gaza Movement ("Spirit of Humanity", official name "Arion") was seized and confiscated and all the 21 passengers and crew detained and later deported.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has estimated that Gaza fishermen need to journey at least 12–15 nautical miles from shore to catch larger shoals, and sardines in particular are 6 nmi (11.1 km) offshore. Shoals closer to shore have been depleted. The total catch in 1999 was nearly 4,000 tons in pre-blockade 1999. This was reduced to 2,700 tons in 2008. In the 90s, the Gaza fishing industry was worth $10 million annually or 4% of the total Palestinian economy; this was halved between 2001 and 2006. 45,000 Palestinians were employed in the fishing industry, employed in jobs such as catching fish, repairing nets and selling fish. Fish also provided much-needed animal protein to Gazans' diet.
The International Committee of the Red Cross
also notes that "90% of Gaza's 4000 fishermen are now considered either poor (with a monthly income of between 100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less than 100 dollars a month), up from 50% in 2008." Nezar Ayyash, head of Gaza's fishermen's union, is quoted as saying that he has been arrested and his boat confiscated several times.
decided to cut diesel exports to Gaza by 15% and gasoline exports by 10%, and to create targeted electrical outages for 15 minutes after a rocket attack. According to Israeli officials, the energy flow to hospitals and Israeli shipments of crude diesel to Gaza's sole power plant would remain unaffected. The Israeli government argued that these limited energy cuts are a non-violent way to protest against Hamas rocket attacks.
The following day, Attorney General of Israel
Menachem Mazuz
suspended the electricity cuts, and the Israeli Supreme Court
gave the government three days to justify its energy cuts policy.
On 1 December 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the electricity cuts were unlawful, and ordered the Israeli military to stop them by the following day. In its ruling, however, the court allowed Israel to continue reducing its diesel and gasoline shipments to Gaza.
interim peace agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel specify Israeli security control over Gazan airspace and coastal waters.
Gazan air space is controlled by radar. Unmanned aerial surveillance drones regularly patrol, there are regular overflights by Israeli fighter jets and a surveillance balloon is tethered near the Erez crossing.
Although the Yasser Arafat International Airport
was destroyed by the Israeli Army in 2002, there is a remaining landing strip at the Gaza Airstrip
which is potentially capable of accommodating STOL
aircraft such as the DHC-7 were the air blockade to be lifted.
controls the crossing and international monitors are present. Egypt Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit
said Hamas wants the border opened because it would represent Egyptian recognition of the group's control of Gaza. "Of course this is something we cannot do," he said, "because it would undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority and consecrate the split between Gaza and the West Bank."
Following the events of the Gaza flotilla raid
in May 2010, after Egypt opened its borders with Gaza, it was reported that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was caught between the need to appease growing public anger at Israel's actions and the necessity of maintaining his close relationship with Israel. This friendship was needed to secure more than $2bn of American aid annually, money on which many analysts believe Mubarak's regime depended on.
attacks, Israel
prevented the transfer of electricity, fuel, and other supplies into Gaza
. Israel stated that the purpose of the blockade was to pressure Hamas
into ending the rocket attacks and to deprive them of the supplies necessary for the continuation of rocket attacks. Israel argues that it is not legally responsible for Gaza
beyond whatever is necessary to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
While there are differing views in Israel concerning the Gaza blockade, most Israelis equate security with survival and peace. Israel’s leaders believe that the blockade of the Gaza Strip, among other security and deterrence measures, have
brought about a quiet in the area. As of the date of the Gaza flotilla incident, no Israeli had been killed in a terrorist attack in more than a year. Therefore, the Israeli government is reluctant to abandon the blockade tactic that is working well from its perspective.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained that the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Gaza. He said, “(I)t’s our obligation—as well as our right in accordance to international law and to common sense—to prevent these weapons
from entering by air, sea, and land.” Referring to the Gaza flotilla, he added, “Had the blockade been breached, this flotilla would have been followed by dozens, by hundreds of ships. The amount of weapons that can be transported aboard a ship is totally different from what we saw get through the tunnels.”. He argued that the consequences of Israel’s failure to maintain the blockade would be “an Iranian port in Gaza, only a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.”
An Israeli government document stated,
Speaking in 2006, Dov Weisglass, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, allegedly said that, "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." Although this quote is widely reported, the original quote appears to have been: "It's like an appointment with a dietician. The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but won't die." Weisglass has denied this report.
According to US diplomatic cables obtained by the Wikileaks
organization, diplomats stationed in the US embassy in Tel Aviv were briefed by Israelis on the blockade of the Gaza Strip. One of the cables states that "as part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed (...) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge".
professor emeritus of international law Richard Falk, there exists an "overwhelming consensus" view among qualified international law specialists that both the blockade and its enforcement are illegal.
In September 2011, a UN investigative committee concluded in the Palmer Report that the blockade is legal.
The findings of the Palmer report on the legality of the blockade were disputed by a panel of five UN human rights experts, who said that the blockade amounted to a "flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law". The panel said the Palmer report failed to recognize that the naval blockade was part of Israel's closure policy toward Gaza, which disproportionately affects civilians. Richard Falk said the authors of the Palmer report were poorly qualified to assess legal aspects of the blockade, and that they were politically motivated to find the naval blockade legal. U.N. experts say Israel's blockade of Gaza illegal (Reuters, Sept. 13, 2011)
Since 2005 Israel asserts that it ended its occupation of Gaza when it disengaged from the coastal strip in 2005
. After Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza strip, Israel no longer has troops stationed within Gaza. Israel has retained control over Gaza's airspace and coastline, and over its own border with the territory. Egypt has control of its border with Gaza. Israel and Egypt also control the flow of goods in and out. Israel controls fuel imports to Gaza, and also controls the majority of electricity used in Gaza (approximately 60%), which it supplies from the Israeli electrical grid. There have been a series of attacks by Israeli ground forces such as the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
, as well as rocket attacks
on Israeli civilians and cross-border attacks by Gazan militant groups against Israeli troops.
Human Rights Watch
argues that Israel is still an occupying power and is responsible for Gaza under the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which seeks to protect the civilian population.
BBC's World Affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds
said that if Gaza
is treated as a "hostile entity" the question is whether the measures used by Israel and Egypt sufficiently distinguish between civilian and military. The 1977 amendment to the Geneva Conventions protocols
prohibits the use of collective measures that do not distinguish between civilians and military. The amendment protects civilian populations in time of conflicts that fall short of war. Israel has not signed these protocols but there is an expectation internationally that it should respect them. Hamas
does not administer an internationally recognized state and also has not signed these protocols. Amnesty International said that “The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately.” And that as the occupying power, Israel has a duty under international law to ensure the welfare of Gaza’s inhabitants, including their rights to health, education, food and adequate housing.
Justus Weiner
and Avi Bell
of the JCPA
said that Israel’s combat actions and blockade cannot be considered collective punishment. They cite Article 75(4)(b) of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, which says the bar on collective punishment forbids the imposition of criminal-type penalties on individuals or groups on the basis of another’s guilt, or the commission of acts that would otherwise violate the rules of distinction and/or proportionality. According to Weiner and Bell, the blockade does not "involve the imposition of criminal-type penalties or the violation of the rules of distinction and proportionality."
released a statement calling for Israel to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip, allow the continued supply of food, fuel, and medicine, and reopen border crossings. According to the Jerusalem Post, this was the 15th time in less than two years the council condemned Israel for its human rights record regarding the Palestinian territories. The proceedings were boycotted by Israel and the United States. Prior to this, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes
, described the blockade as "collective punishment", saying, "We all understand the security problems and the need to respond to that but collective punishment of the people of Gaza is not, we believe, the appropriate way to do that."
On 15 December 2008, following a statement in which he described the embargo on Gaza a crime against humanity
, United Nations Special Rapporteur Richard A. Falk
was prevented from entering the Palestinian territories by Israeli authorities and expelled from the region. The Israel
i Ambassador to the United Nations Itzhak Levanon said that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was "hopelessly unbalanced," "redundant at best and malicious at worst."
In August 2009, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay criticised Israel for the blockade in a 34-page report, calling it a violation of the rules of war.
In March 2010, United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon
stated that the blockade of Gaza is causing "unacceptable suffering" and that families were living in "unacceptable, unsustainable conditions".
A UN Fact Finding mission in September 2009 led by South African Judge Richard Goldstone
(the Goldstone report) concluded that the blockade was possibly a crime against humanity
, and recommended that the matter be referred to the International Criminal Court
if the situation has not improved in six months.
In May 2010, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
stated that the formal economy in Gaza has collapsed since the imposition of the blockade. They also stated that the "restrictions imposed on the civilian population by the continuing blockade of the Gaza Strip amount to collective punishment, a violation of international humanitarian law."
In June 2010, United Nations envoy to the Middle East and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
stated that "The policy of Gaza is counter-productive and what [Israel] should be doing is allow material in to rebuild homes and sanitation and power and water systems and allow business to flourish. Nor do we in fact do damage to the position of Hamas by harming people in Gaza. People are harmed when the quality of service is poor and people cannot work." He also called for Hamas to stop the "terrorism coming out of Gaza". In the same month, Robert Serry, the UN special envoy for Middle East peace process, also said that "The flotilla crisis is the latest symptom of a failed policy. The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and the current policy is unacceptable and counter-productive, and requires a different, more positive strategy. The closure and blockade of the Gaza Strip needs to come to an end. There is now a welcome international consensus on Gaza."
In the September 2011 Palmer Report, the UN investigative committee for the 2010 Flotilla to Gaza said that the Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal under international law
, but that "the Panel cannot make
definitive findings either of fact or law. But it can give its view."
, said that she believes that the "humanitarian crisis...was artificially created because of the [Israeli] blockade," but added that the idea of a flotilla
is not the correct action to take: "We are not in favor of attempts to help people in this way."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
made harsh comments against the blockade, especially following the Gaza flotilla raid
. Erdoğan raised the possibility of trying to forcibly breach the blockade by sending the Turkish Navy
to escort any future flotilla or by trying to visit Gaza himself. The Turkish government made it clear that it opposes the blockade and regards it as illegal, and before the flotilla raid, issued a demand for safe passage. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
said that Turkey was willing to normalize relations with Israel if it lifted the blockade. Following Israel's easing of the blockade, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called it "a positive but insufficient step", and said that "Turkey considers that Israel's inhuman blockade of Gaza represents a threat to regional peace and stability and considers that the blockade must be entirely lifted.
Ireland
After visiting Gaza in March 2010, Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin
described the Israeli blockade of Palestinian-ruled Gaza as "inhumane and unacceptable" and called on the European Union
and other countries to increase pressure on Israel to lift the blockade. Michael Martin was the first EU foreign minister to enter Gaza in over a year. He said that all that is being achieved through the blockade is to "enrich Hamas and marginalize even further the voices of moderation."
United Kingdom
David Cameron
, the UK Prime Minister, during Prime Minister's Questions
, stated that "Friends of Israel – and I count myself a friend of Israel – should be saying to the Israelis that the blockade actually strengthens Hamas's grip on the economy and on Gaza, and it's in their own interests to lift it and allow these vital supplies to get through. ... We should do everything we can through the UN, where resolution 1860 is absolutely clear about the need to end the blockade and to open up Gaza." In July 2010, Cameron called on Israel to relax the blockade. He said "Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp." In response, Ephraim Sneh, former Israeli minister, said: "Cameron is right – Gaza is a prison camp, but those who control the prison are Hamas. I'm totally against the double standards of a nation which fights the Taliban but is showing its solidarity with their brothers, Hamas.
Nick Clegg
, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
speaking after the Gaza flotilla raid
, criticized the blockade saying “So the events of the last 24/48 hours confirm in my mind, as they do if you hear what William Hague
and David Cameron
have done and everyone in Government, the view that the blockade on Gaza is neither sustainable nor tenable in its present form.” He also commented that "If we needed any confirmation about the unjustified and untenable blockade of Gaza, we have been reminded overnight of the need to lift this blockade. What is going on in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. While of course Israel has every right to defend itself and its citizens from attack, we must now move towards lifting the blockade from Gaza as soon as possible."
William Hague
, the Foreign Secretary, said in a prepared speech to the House of Commons that the blockade of Gaza was "unacceptable and unsustainable", and that it was "the view of the British government, including the previous government, that restrictions on Gaza should be lifted – a view confirmed in United Nations security council resolution 1860 which called for sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and which called on states to alleviate the humanitarian and economic situation", and that "current Israeli restrictions are counterproductive for Israel's long term security".
Acting Labour Leader Harriet Harman also stated that "This blockade must end."
United States
Although the United States officially supports the blockade, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Israeli Minister of Defence Ehud Barak
in February 2010 and urged him to ease the blockade. The United States has long been pressing Israel to ease the restrictions on Gaza. Speaking about the Gaza flotilla raid
, which occurred on 31 May 2010, Clinton stated that "The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable." In regards to the impending second Gaza flotilla, Clinton has stated that, "the Gaza flotilla is not necessary or useful."
, CARE International UK, and Oxfam
, issued a report saying that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip was more acute than at any time since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967. While critical of Palestinian militants firing rockets from Gaza into Israel, and acknowledging that "Israel has the right and obligation to protect its citizens", they said that as the "occupying power in Gaza" it also has a legal duty to ensure Gaza civilians have access to food, clean water, electricity and medical care. They urged Israel to lift the blockade, characterizing it as collective punishment
against the 1.5 million residents of the territory.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, "The hardship faced by Gaza's 1.5 million people cannot be addressed by providing humanitarian aid. The only sustainable solution is to lift the closure." Describing the blockade itself, they referred to it as "a collective punishment
imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law".
The Islamic Action Front
(IAF), a Jordan
ian Islamist group, criticized Egypt for the blockade and accused it of "collaborating" with Israel and the United States. "The Egyptian authorities are ...increasing the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza by building the steel wall and closing the border crossings with Gaza," said Hamzah Mansour, a member of the Shura Council of the IAF.
Notable individuals have also taken positions on the blockade:
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
on the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
since June 2007, a more severe version of restrictions which began in 2001. Israel eased the blockade for non-military goods in June 2010, and Egypt reopened the Rafah border crossing in 2011 for persons.
In 2006 Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
won the Palestinian legislative election
Palestinian legislative election, 2006
On January 25, 2006, elections were held for the Palestinian Legislative Council , the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority . Notwithstanding the 2005 municipal elections and the January 9, 2005 presidential election, this was the first election to the PLC since 1996; subsequent...
, triggering the 2006-2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority by Israel and the Quartet on the Middle East
Quartet on the Middle East
The Quartet on the Middle East, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet are the United Nations, the...
. In March 2007, Hamas and Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
formed a Palestinan authority national unity government headed by Ismail Haniya
Ismail Haniya
Ismail Haniyeh ; is a senior political leader of Hamas and one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority, the matter being under political and legal dispute. He became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won...
. Shortly after, in June, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the course of the Battle of Gaza
Battle of Gaza (2007)
The Battle of Gaza was a military conflict between Hamas and Fatah that took place between June 7 and 15, 2007 in the Gaza Strip. After winning Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinan authority national unity government in 2007, headed by Ismail Haniya. In...
, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other government officials with its own. Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel largely sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled and was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side.
Israel maintains that the blockade is necessary to limit Palestinian rocket attacks
Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip have occurred since 2001. Between 2001 and January 2009, over 8,600 rockets had been launched, leading to 28 deaths and several hundred injuries, as well as widespread psychological trauma and disruption of daily life.The weapons,...
from the Gaza Strip on its cities and to prevent Hamas from obtaining other weapons. Prior to its 2011 opening of the Rafah crossing, Egypt maintained that it could not fully open its side of the border since completely opening the border would represent Egyptian recognition of the Hamas control of Gaza, undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
and consecrate the split between Gaza and the West Bank.
Facing mounting international calls to ease or lift their blockade in response to the Gaza flotilla raid
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Egypt and Israel lessened the restrictions starting in June 2010. Israel announced that it will allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza while preventing certain weapons and what it designates as "dual-use" items from entering Gaza. Egypt partly opened the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza, primarily for people, but not for supplies, to go through. Israel continues to severely restrict and/or prevent people from entering or exiting Gaza. The Israeli NGO Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement asserted in a July 2010 report that Israel continues to prevent normal functioning of the Gazan economy. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) conducted an assessment of the humanitarian impact of the easing of the blockage in January and February 2011 and concluded that they did not result in a significant improvement in people’s livelihoods.
Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing permanently on 28 May 2011. Women of all ages and men aged below 18 and above 40 are able to enter Egypt without a visa, although there are still severe restrictions on the movement of personnel and goods to and from Gaza. In practice, however, a great deal of goods are smuggled in through tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, and the quantity of goods smuggled in has increased greatly since the Egyptian revolution in early 2011.
Opinion on the legality of the blockade is mixed. In September 2011, a UN investigative committee concluded in the Palmer Report that the naval blockade is legal and had to be judged isolated from the restrictions on goods reaching Gaza via the land crossings. Concerning the restrictions on goods reaching Gaza via the land crossings the Palmer report stated that they were the main reason for a unsustainable and unacceptable humanitarian situation in Gaza. UN envoy Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
, United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
head Navi Pillay, the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
and, according to Richard Falk, most experts on international law consider the blockade illegal.
1989–2004
Since June 1989, Israel has formally restricted the movement of Palestinians, imposing a magnetic-card system whereby only those with such a card were allowed to leave the Strip: Israeli authorities did not issue magnetic cards to released prisoners, former administrative detainees, or people who had been detained and released without charges being filed against them. January 1991 marked the beginning of the permanent closure policy, whereby each resident of Gaza who desired to travel within Israel or the West Bank was required to have a personal exit permit. In March 1993, Israel imposed an overall closure on Gaza with newly built checkpoints; and, from October 2000, Israel imposed a comprehensive closure on the Gaza Strip.When the Al-Aqsa Intifada
Al-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
broke out in September 2000 Israel put trade restrictions on the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
and closed the Gaza International Airport. The economic effects worsened after the creation of a ‘buffer zone’ in September 2001, that would seal all entry and exit points in the Palestinian Territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
for "security reasons." After 9 October 2001, movement of people and goods across the ‘Green Line
Green Line (Israel)
Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
’ dividing the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and between the Gaza Strip and Israel, was halted, and a complete internal closure was effected on 14 November 2001. The worsening economic and humanitarian situation raised great concern abroad. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in January 2003, the Israeli blockade and closures had pushed the Palestinian economy into a stage of de-development and drained as much as US $2.4 billion out of the economy of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
2005 Agreement on Movement and Access
The Israel Defence Forces left the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement planIsrael's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
. An 'Agreement on Movement and Access' between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was brokered by Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
in November 2005 to improve Palestinian freedom of movement and economic activity in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
crossing with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Palestinian National Authority and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Only people with Palestinian ID, or foreign nationals, by exception, in certain categories, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. All goods, vehicles and trucks to and from Egypt had to pass through the Israeli crossing at Kerem Shalom
Kerem Shalom
Kerem Shalom is a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council and a border crossing near the meeting of the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt borders.- Kibbutz :The kibbutz was founded in 1966 adjacent to the triborder area by members of Hashomer Hatzair...
, under full Israeli supervision. Goods were also permitted transit at the Karni crossing
Karni crossing
The Karni Crossing is a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip and was opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords, in order to allow Palestinian merchants to export and import goods...
in the north.
2006–2007 economic sanctions
The 2006–2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority were economic sanctionsEconomic sanctions
Economic sanctions are domestic penalties applied by one country on another for a variety of reasons. Economic sanctions include, but are not limited to, tariffs, trade barriers, import duties, and import or export quotas...
imposed by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the Quartet on the Middle East
Quartet on the Middle East
The Quartet on the Middle East, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet are the United Nations, the...
against the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
and the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
following the January 2006 legislative elections
Palestinian legislative election, 2006
On January 25, 2006, elections were held for the Palestinian Legislative Council , the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority . Notwithstanding the 2005 municipal elections and the January 9, 2005 presidential election, this was the first election to the PLC since 1996; subsequent...
that brought Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
to power. In March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza...
established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
, the chairman on the Palestinian Authority, in a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah.
Throughout 2006, the Karni crossing
Karni crossing
The Karni Crossing is a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip and was opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords, in order to allow Palestinian merchants to export and import goods...
remained only partially operational, costing Palestinians losses of $500,000 a day, as less than 10% of the Gaza Strip's minimal daily export targets were achieved. Basic food commodities were severely depleted, bakeries closed and food rationing was introduced.
June 2007 – January 2008
In June 2007 Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and removed FatahFatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
officials. Following the Battle of Gaza
Battle of Gaza (2007)
The Battle of Gaza was a military conflict between Hamas and Fatah that took place between June 7 and 15, 2007 in the Gaza Strip. After winning Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, Hamas and Fatah formed the Palestinan authority national unity government in 2007, headed by Ismail Haniya. In...
, the international sanctions were terminated in June 2007 while at the same time a new and more severe blockade of the Gaza Strip was initiated.
In response to the violent clashes, President Abbas declared a state of emergency and dissolved the national unity government on 14 June. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called this decision "hasty", and pledged to stay in power. Hamas gained complete control of the Gaza Strip on 15 June, after forcing out Fatah.
Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel largely sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled and was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side.
In July 2007, Israeli officials planned an opening of the Rafah border crossing in order to allow stranded Palestinians to return, but the plan was cancelled after Hamas threatened to fire on the refugees.
A Jerusalem Post article mentions Hamas' complaints that since June 2008 the P.A. does not deliver any more passports to the Gazans thus trapping them tightly.
Egypt, fearing a spill-over of Hamas-style militancy into their territory, kept its border with Gaza largely sealed. Israel sealed the border completely on 17 January in response to rocket attacks on southern Israel and Palestinian militant attacks on crossing points between Israel and Gaza.
The Egyptian government feared also that Iran wants to establish a base in its territory as well as in Gaza through its proxy Hizbullah following the 2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt
2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt
The 2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt involves the arrest of 49 men by Egyptian authorities in the five months preceding April 2009. Egypt accuses them of being Hezbollah agents planning attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets in the Sinai Peninsula...
. Almasryalyoum: Haaretz:
January 2008 Breach of the Gaza-Egypt border
On 22 January 2008, Palestinians clashed with Egyptian police in front of the border, demanding that the Rafah crossing be opened. The clashes included live fire, and there were injuries on both sides. Fifty women managed to cross, and Egyptian police responded with a water cannon assault. Additional Egyptian security forces arrived, and managed to restore calm and prevent Palestinians from crossing.The breach of the Gaza-Egypt border began on 23 January 2008, after gunmen in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
set off an explosion near the Rafah Border Crossing, destroying part of the former Israeli Gaza Strip barrier
Israeli Gaza Strip barrier
The Israel and Egypt − Gaza Strip barrier is a separation barrier first constructed by Israel in 1994 between the Gaza Strip and Israel. An addition to the barrier was finished in 2005 to separate the Gaza Strip and Egypt....
. The United Nations estimated that as many as half of the population of the Gaza Strip crossed the border into Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
seeking food and supplies. Israel said that militants had exploited the breach in the border wall to send armed men into the Sinai to infiltrate Israel across the Sinai-Israel border. Egyptian troops at first permitted crossing but did not allow Palestinians to travel further than El Arish. On 25 January, Egyptian forces blocked almost all illegal entry
Illegal entry
Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like...
points to stem the flow of Gazans pouring in, and Egyptian riot police erected barbed wire and chain-link fences along the border. Palestinians used a bulldozer to knock down the fence and once again flooded in. Egyptian border police began stopping Palestinians from crossing and sealed the road from Rafah to El Arish. On 28 January, Egyptian security forces and Hamas militants strung barbed wire across one of the breaches, sealing it off. The Egyptians began repairing one of the two remaining breaches on 29 January, and closed the border with the Gaza Strip on 3 February 2008.
Mid-2008 violence
Throughout mid-2008, IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
continued to inspect all humanitarian aid for Gaza and delivering approved items through the crossing points of Karni
Karni crossing
The Karni Crossing is a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip and was opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords, in order to allow Palestinian merchants to export and import goods...
, Kerem Shalom, Erez
Erez Crossing
The Erez Crossing is a pedestrian/cargo terminal on the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the northern end of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Israel.It is part of a complex formerly including the Erez Industrial Park....
, and Sufa
Sufa, Israel
Sufa is a kibbutz in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev and a border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.-The kibbutz:The kibbutz falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 241...
.
Throughout this period, Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
launched raids against these crossing points. The first was an 9 April infiltration by four Hamas fighters through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The four fighters attacked a terminal in Nahal Oz
Nahal Oz
Nahal Oz is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of...
being used to deliver fuel to Gaza, killing two workers. Three of the fighters were subsequently killed by Israeli strikes as they attempted to flee.
On 19 April, Hamas launched another attack against a border crossing in the early morning hours. Three fighters were killed in the operation, and thirteen Israeli soldiers were wounded.
June 2008 Attempt at easing restrictions
Under a ceasefire agreement2008 Israel–Hamas ceasefire
-Background: After its victory in the 2006 municipal legislative elections, Hamas assumed administrative control of Gaza. Hamas consolidated this control over Gaza after a military conflict with Fatah. Israel and Egypt then partially sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that...
between Israel and Hamas in June 2008, Israel agreed to lift its blockade of Gaza Strip. It was reported that in August 2008, Israel was still allowing in very few goods. At Egypt's request, Israel did not always respond to Palestinian cease fire violations by closing the border.
Israel accused Hamas of transporting weapons into Gaza via tunnels to Egypt, failing to stop rocket attacks, and noted that Hamas would not continue negotiating the release of Israeli hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit is an Israeli – French citizen and Israel Defense Forces soldier. On 25 June 2006, he was captured inside Israel by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza. The Hamas militants held him for over five years, until he was released on...
, who had been held by Hamas since 2006. Hamas' decision alienated it from the government of Egypt, which had linked the opening of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing with Shalit's release. In the early stage of the cease-fire, Israeli officials had stated that they found “a certain sense of progress” on Shalit's release.
The UN recorded seven Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) violations of the ceasefire between 20 and 26 June, and three violations by Palestinian groups not affiliated with Hamas between 23 and 26 June. On 18 December, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades is the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist fundamentalist socio-political organisation Hamas. Created in 1992, under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, the primary objective of the group was to build a coherent military organisation to support the goals of...
, the military wing of Hamas, reported 185 Israeli violations during the lull period. The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
Not to be confused with the California-based "Terrorism Information Center".The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center is an Israeli-based non-governmental organization with close ties to the Israel Defense Forces....
reported a total of 223 rockets and 139 mortar shells fired from Gaza during the lull, including 20 rockets and 18 mortar shells before 4 November. It noted that "Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire" until 4 November, when the ceasefire was "seriously eroded." Rocket fire decreased by 98 percent in the four and a half months between 18 June and 4 November when compared to the four and half months preceding the ceasefire. Hamas denied responsibility for the rocket fire during the lull. Human Rights Watch reported that while Hamas security forces demonstrated an ability to curb rocket fire, while some people detained for rocket firing were released without explanation.
In August 2008, the first NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
-organized attempt to breach Israel's maritime closure of the Gaza Strip took place when two vessels manned by activists from the Free Gaza Movement
Free Gaza Movement
The Free Gaza Movement is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to challenge the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by sailing humanitarian aid ships to Gaza...
and International Solidarity Movement
International Solidarity Movement
The International Solidarity Movement is an organization focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests. It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a...
sailed from Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
towards Gaza, carrying hearing aids and balloons. The boats reached Gaza on 23 August after the Israeli government decided to let them through.
On 28 October 2008, the 66-foot yacht Dignity, manned by Free Gaza Movement
Free Gaza Movement
The Free Gaza Movement is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to challenge the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by sailing humanitarian aid ships to Gaza...
activists and carrying medical supplies, docked in Gaza harbor. Israel had intially decided to stop the vessel, but the decision was made to let it through just before it reached Gaza.
2008–2009 Gaza war and aftermath
In January 2009, after the first phase of the Gaza War, Israel said it would allow in some humanitarian aid, but will continue its economic blockade in order to weaken the power of Hamas. In June 2009, on the second anniversary of the blockade, 38 United Nations and non-governmental humanitarian organisations issued a joint press release calling for "free and uninhibited access for all humanitarian assistance in accordance with the international agreements and in accordance with universally recognised international human rights and humanitarian law standards". As of July 2009, Israel said it is making the humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza one of its top priorities. The amount of goods Israel allows into Gaza is one quarter of the pre- blockade flow.Mark Regev
Mark Regev
Mark Regev , formerly Mark Freiberg, is an Australian-born Israeli diplomat and media spokesman. He is currently the spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel and an advisor on foreign press and public affairs, a position he has held since his appointment by the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert...
, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
stated "We want to make sure that reconstruction for the people of Gaza is not reconstruction for the Hamas regime." U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said on 25 February that "Aid should never be used as a political weapon. We'll try to push to get into Gaza as many supplies as possible."
The Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
cabinet had decided in March 2009 that food and medical supplies to Gaza would be allowed through unfettered. This was met with resistance by Israel's Defense Ministry, which controls the border crossings.
An Israeli military spokesperson said that each item was decided on an individual basis and that food was being let through daily. According to Tel Aviv NGO Gisha, the amount of food entering Gaza is as of May 2009, about 25% of the pre-June 2007 figures. A UN study has found that Gazan families are eating fewer meals a day and mainly relying on carbohydrates such as rice and flour because protein foods are expensive or unavailable. Chicken eggs have doubled in price due to the destruction of chicken coops during the Gaza War.
February 2009 Hamas-UNRWA incident
On 3 February, 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels were confiscated by Hamas police personnel from an UNRWA distribution center. On the following day, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator demanded that the aid be returned immediately. In a separate incident on 5 February, Hamas seized 200 tons of food from UNRWA aid supplies. The following day, UNRWA suspended its activities in Gaza. Hamas issued a statement stating that the incident was a misunderstanding between the drivers of the trucks and had been resolved through direct contact with the UNRWA. On 9 February, UNRWA lifted the suspension on the movement of its humanitarian supplies into Gaza, after the Hamas authorities returned all of the aid supplies confiscated.June 2009 easing of blockade
In June 2009, the blockade was eased to allow processed hummus, but not hummus with extras such as pine nuts or mushrooms.May 2010 Gaza flotilla raid
On 31 May 2010 the Israeli Navy seized an aid convoy of six ships known as the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla". aiming to break through the blockade. The flotilla had declined an Israeli request to change course to the port of AshdodPort of Ashdod
The Port of Ashdod is one of Israel's two main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment doubled the country's port capacity. It is a major point of entry for both cargo and tourists in and out of...
, where the Israeli government had said it would inspect the aid and deliver (or let humanitarian organizations deliver) Israeli-approved items to Gaza.
Israeli Shayetet 13
Shayetet 13
Shayetet 13 is the elite naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy. The unit is considered one of the primary Special Forces units of the Israel Defense Forces . S'13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and...
naval commandos boarded the ships from speedboats and helicopters launched from three missile ships. On the MV Mavi Marmara
MV Mavi Marmara
MV is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island-Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden Gate Shipyard by Turkish Shipbuilding Co...
, the main ship of the convoy, passengers fiercely resisted the boarding with makeshift weapons and live fire, including from guns seized from soldiers. Passengers managed to capture three soldiers. After failing to disperse the activists using non-lethal means, the soldiers resorted to live fire. On other ships, soldiers were met with passive resistance which was easily suppressed with non-lethal tecniques. Nine passengers were killed and dozens wounded. Nine soldiers were also injured, two of them seriously. All of the ships were seized and towed to Ashdod, while passengers were imprisoned in Israel and then deported to their home countries. were shot The MV Rachel Corrie
MV Rachel Corrie
MV Rachel Corrie is a 499 GT coaster owned and operated by the Free Gaza Movement. The ship is named in honour of Rachel Corrie, a former member of the International Solidarity Movement...
, a seventh ship that had been delayed, set sail from Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
on the same day of the flotilla's interception. Israeli naval vessels shadowed the Rachel Corrie, and after it ignored three warnings, Israeli commandos boarded the ship from speedboats, arrested the crew, and forced it to sail to Ashdod.
Freedom Flotilla II
Following the Gaza flotilla raid, a coalition of 22 NGONon-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s assembled a flotilla of 10 vessels and 1,000 activists to breach the blockade. The vessels docked in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in preperation for the journey to Gaza. However, the Greek government announced that it would not allow the vessels to leave for Gaza, and the Hellenic Coast Guard
Hellenic Coast Guard
The Hellenic Coast Guard is the national coast guard of Greece. Like most other coast guards, it is a paramilitary organization that can support the Hellenic Navy in wartime, but resides under separate civilian control in times of peace...
stopped three vessels attempting to evade the travel ban and leave port. On 7 July, most activists left for home, leaving only a few dozen to continue the initiative. On 16 July, the French yacht Dignite Al Karama was allowed to leave port after informing Greek authorities that its destination was Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Instead, the yacht headed directly for Gaza. The Israeli Navy stopped the Dignite Al Karama about 65 kilometers off Gaza. After the boat was warned and refused to turn back, it was surrounded by three Israeli naval vessels and boarded by Shayetet 13
Shayetet 13
Shayetet 13 is the elite naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy. The unit is considered one of the primary Special Forces units of the Israel Defense Forces . S'13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and...
commandos, who took it over. The boat was then taken to Ashdod.
Third Flotilla
On 4 November 2011, the Israeli Navy intercepted two vessels heading towards Gaza in a private initiative to break the blockade. Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the vessels from speedboats and took them over with no resistance. The vessels were then taken to Ashdod port.June 2010 easing of the blockade
Following the Gaza flotilla raidGaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Israel and Egypt faced mounting international calls to ease or lift their blockade.
On 1 June 2010, the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza was partially opened. Egypt’s foreign ministry has made it clear that the crossing will remain open mainly for people, not for aid, to go through. Several aid trucks began making it into Gaza during the following morning including some carrying power generators from the Egyptian Red Crescent, and hundreds of Gazans who had been staying in Egypt returned home, although little traffic, human or cargo, flowed from Gaza to Egypt. On 3 June, the manager of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, Salameh Barakeh, explained that the crossing is open for the free travel of patients, foreign passport holders, those with residency status in other countries, students and internationals. The Arab Physicians Union officials submitted a request to Egyptian authorities on 3 June 2010 to send 400 tons of food, blankets, electric generators for hospitals and construction material from Egypt to Gaza, but their request was denied by Egyptian authorities without specific reason. Emad Gad, political analyst at Egyptian Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the government should keep the Rafah border under control because opening it completely could allow weapons smuggling or illegal financial transactions.
On 17 June 2010, Israel's Prime Minister's Office announced that Israel's security cabinet had agreed to relax Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, and issued an English-language press release, according to which a decision to ease the blockade had been made. The English text reads: "It was agreed to liberalize the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza [and] expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision." However, no binding decision has been made during the cabinet meeting, and an announcement issued in Hebrew did not mention any such decision. The Prime Minister's office said that a meeting would be held soon, and expressed hope that a binding decision will be taken then.
On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more – as well as (projects) that are under international supervision." Despite the easing of the land blockade, Israel announced to continue to inspect all goods bound for Gaza by sea at the port of Ashdod. Internationally, this decision received mixed reactions.
International Response to Easing of Restrictions
Tony BlairTony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, who welcomed Israel's decision to ease the restrictions on behalf of the Quartet on the Middle East
Quartet on the Middle East
The Quartet on the Middle East, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet are the United Nations, the...
, said that the Quartet – the UN, US, EU, and Russia – would continue talks with Israel "to flesh out the principles". Suggesting that "items of ordinary daily life, including materials for the construction of homes, infrastructure and services as the UN have asked" should be allowed to enter Gaza, he stated that "the decision to allow foodstuffs and household items is a good start". A spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations declared that the Secretary-General would be encouraged that the Israeli government is reviewing its policy towards Gaza. He added that the United Nations would continue to seek a fundamental change in policy as agreed by the Quartet. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri
Sami Abu Zuhri
Sami Abu Zuhri is a senior spokesman for the Palestinian political party Hamas. Zuhri, a relatively unknown member of Hamas, gained notoriety on May 19, 2006, when Palestinian security and customs officials discovered he had 640,000 euros on his person; another report claimed he held a larger sum...
said that Israel's decision would have been designed to "beautify" the blockade and mislead public opinion.
A British Foreign Office spokesman said: "It is good that Israel is giving serious consideration to resolving these issues, [b]ut further work is needed. We need to see the additional steps still to be announced." EU officials also said they were disappointed by the decision. German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel
Dirk Niebel
Dirk Niebel is a German politician. He is since 2009 Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development. From 2005 to 2009, he was secretary general of the FDP.-Background:...
said that the Israeli announcement was "not sufficient". During a visit to the country, Niebel intended to visit a sewage treatment plant being financed with German development aid, but was denied entry into the Gaza strip by Israel. He commented that the Israeli government sometimes would "not make it easy for its friends to explain why it behaves the way it does." A spokesperson for Israel's Foreign Ministry responded that Israel would have been obliged to allow any other European minister entry if it had allowed Niebel to visit the Gaza strip, thus conferring additional legitimacy to the Hamas government.
Chris Gunness from UNRWA criticised Israel's move to ease the blockade as not being adequate, saying that "Even if the blockade is eased it remains illegal under international law as it is a collective form of punishment on a civilian population. Eighty percent of Gaza's population is aid-dependent. Allowing more aid in is perpetuating this dependency and not addressing the issue of self- sufficiency or the root causes of the crisis. What have not been addressed by the easing of the closure are the issues of exports as well as the limited number of crossings open to facilitate the flow of goods. Operation Cast Lead destroyed at least 60,000 homes and structures which need to be urgently repaired and rebuilt. The easing of the blockade is not addressing this adequately."
Maxwell Gaylard, UN Deputy Special and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Middle East also criticised Israel, saying "Permitting mayonnaise and potato chips into Gaza is really irrelevant in dealing with the underlying issues. What we need to see is an improvement in Gaza's water, sanitation, power grid, educational and health sectors. Gaza's economy is shot to pieces and its infrastructure is extremely fragile."
New blockade policy by Israel
On 20 June 2010, Israel's Security Cabinet approved a new system governing the blockade that would allow practically all non-military or dual-use items to enter the Gaza strip. According to a cabinet statement, Israel would "expand the transfer of construction materials designated for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority, including schools, health institutions, water, sanitation and more – as well as (projects) that are under international supervision." Despite the easing of the land blockade, Israel will continue to inspect all goods bound for Gaza by sea at the port of Ashdod.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision enabled Israel to focus on real security issues and would eliminate "Hamas' main propaganda claim," and that it would strengthen the case for keeping the sea blockade in place. He also said the decision would have been coordinated with the United States and with Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, the representative of the Quartet for the Middle East. Blair characterized the decision as a "very significant step forward", but added that the decision needs to be implemented. In a statement, the Quartet said that the situation remained "unsustainable and unacceptable" and maintained that a long-term solution was urgently needed. The UNRWA called for a complete lift of the Gaza blockade, expressing concern that the new policy would continue to limit Gaza's ability to develop on its own. The European Union's representative for foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, welcomed the decision. She called the step "a significant improvement" and expressed the expectation that the measures take effect as soon as possible, adding that "more work remains to be done." The U.S. government welcomed the decision, expressing the belief that the easing would significantly improve the lives of Gaza Strip residents and prevent weapons smuggling. It expressed its intention to contribute to an international effort to "explore additional ways to improve the situation in Gaza, including greater freedom of movement and commerce between Gaza and the West Bank." Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
dismissed the measures as trivial and "media propaganda", and demanded a complete lifting of the blockade, including the removal on all restrictions on the import of construction material. Israeli Arab member of Knesset Hanin Zoabi commented that the easing of the blockade would prove that "it is not a security blockade, but a political one," adding that the flotilla "succeeded in undermining the blockade's legitimacy."
The U.S., United Nations, European Union and Russia are jointly consulting with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt on additional measures, described by the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
as a "fundamental change in policy" toward the Gaza strip.
Lieberman Proposal
In July 2010, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman proposed an initiative to shift full responsibility over the Gaza Strip to the international community. He announced that he plans to discuss the idea, which was labeled a "personal initiative" with the EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton.Lieberman proposed that units of the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
and commando units from EU member states be sent in to secure the Gaza border crossings to prevent the smuggling of weapons, and that the border with Israel be sealed. Ships that underwent inspections in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
or Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
would be allowed to dock in Gaza and unload humanitarian cargoes. The EU would help improve and build civilian infrastructure, and Gaza would become a fully independent entity.
Humanitarian impact assessment
In January and February 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) conducted an assessment of the effects of the measures to ease the access restrictions. They concluded that they did not result in a significant improvement in people’s livelihoods.They found that a limited reactivation of the private sector resulted from the increased availability of consumer goods and some raw materials but the "pivotal nature of the remaining restrictions" and the effects of three years of strict blockade prevented a significant improvement in livelihoods. Although the unemployment rate in Gaza fell from 39.3% to 37.4% in the second half of 2010 there were significant food price rises. There was little or no improvement in food insecurity rates in Gaza which continued to affect 52% of the population. Few of the 40,000 housing units needed to replace homes lost during Operation Cast Lead and for natural population growth could be built as a result of the ongoing restrictions on importing building materials. The approval of over 100 projects funded by international organizations intended to improve the "extremely deteriorated" water and sanitation, education and health services, followed the easing of the blockade. The implementation of these projects was delayed by the entry approval process for materials and the limited opening of the Karni crossing. OCHA found that there had been no improvement in the quality of services provided to the population of the Gaza Strip as a result of the projects so far. There was no significant increase in the number of exit permits granted by Israel to allow access to the outside world including other parts of the Palestinan territories. Permits continued to be issued by Israel only on a exceptional basis with a 114 being issued during the second half of 2010. OCHA described Egypt’s move to regularly operate its crossing with Gaza for special categories of people as a "significant, albeit limited, improvement".
They concluded that the easing of restrictions was "a step in the right direction" but called on Israel to fully abolish the blockade including removing restrictions on the import of construction materials and the exports of goods, and to lift the general ban on the movement of people between Gaza and the West Bank via Israel in order to comply with what they described as international humanitarian and human rights law obligations.
Opening the Rafah crossing (2011)
Following the Egyptian revolution of 2011, the new Egyptian leadership opened the Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip on 28 May 2011, for women, children and men over 40. Men aged between 18 and 40 require a permit and trade is prohibited. Palestinians leaving Gaza are required to carry ID cards issued by Israel. Israel criticised the opening citing security concerns. However, little has changed in reality. There are still severe restrictions on the movement to and from Gaza.Land blockade
Israel has built a border fence on its border with the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli Army maintains a presence at all border crossings and regularly patrols along the fence. All humanitarian aid bound for Gaza is transferred through four border crossings: The Kerem ShalomKerem Shalom
Kerem Shalom is a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council and a border crossing near the meeting of the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt borders.- Kibbutz :The kibbutz was founded in 1966 adjacent to the triborder area by members of Hashomer Hatzair...
, Karni
Karni crossing
The Karni Crossing is a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip and was opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords, in order to allow Palestinian merchants to export and import goods...
, Erez
Erez Crossing
The Erez Crossing is a pedestrian/cargo terminal on the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the northern end of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Israel.It is part of a complex formerly including the Erez Industrial Park....
, and Sufa
Sufa, Israel
Sufa is a kibbutz in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev and a border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.-The kibbutz:The kibbutz falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 241...
crossings. All aid first undergoes security inspection before being transferred by truck into Gaza.
Egypt has built an underground barrier to block smuggling tunnels, and the Egyptian Border Police maintains a presence along the Egypt-Gaza border. The Rafah Border Crossing is the only lawful crossing point between Egypt and Gaza, and is manned by Palestinian Authority security forces and the European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah
European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah
The European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah is, after the European Union Police Mission for the Gaza Strip , the EU's second Civilian Crisis Management Mission in the Gaza Strip. It is situated at the Rafah Border Crossing on the Palestinian-Egyptian border...
. All humanitarian supplies are transferred through Israel or Egypt via the land crossings after security inspection.
Goods blocked
Israel allows limited humanitarian suppliesHumanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...
from aid organizations into the Gaza Strip. According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizations, diplomats, and the Palestinian...
of the Israel Defense Forces, in May 2010, this included over 1.5 million litres of diesel fuel and gasoline, fruits and vegetables, wheat, sugar, meat, chicken and fish products, dairy products, animal feed, hygiene products, clothing and shoes.
Israel announced on June 2010 it would allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza while preventing certain weapons and dual-use items from entering the Hamas-run Gaza.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs at various times, Israel has blocked goods including wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
s, dry food items, and crayon
Crayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
s, stationary
Stationary
Stationary can mean:* In statistics and probability: a stationary process.* In mathematics: a stationary point.* In mathematics: a stationary set.* In physics: a time-invariant quantity, such as a constant position or temperature....
, soccer balls, and musical instruments. International aid group Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a global aid agency engaged in transitional environments that have experienced some sort of shock: natural disaster, economic collapse, or conflict. People working for it move as quickly as possible from bringing in food and supplies to enabling people to rebuild their economy with...
said it was blocked from sending 90 tons of macaroni and other foodstuffs. After international pressure, Israeli authorities said that they were giving the shipment a green light. Israel was also reported to have prevented aid groups from sending in other items, such as paper, crayons, tomato paste and lentils. Because of an Israeli ban on the importation of construction materials (such as cement and steel) for fear of Hamas using them to build bunkers and fortified positions from which to shell villages in Israel, the UN Relief and Works Agency built at least one mud brick home, and planned to build up to 120. Aid agencies say that food waits on trucks and in warehouses, and many basic items are rejected by Israel as "luxuries" or are turned down for unexplained reasons. Tin cans are banned because the tin might be melted down and used to build weaponry or structures by Hamas, making it hard for Gazan farmers to preserve their vegetables.
In January, 2010, the Israeli group Gisha took Israeli authorities to court, forcing them to reveal which goods were permitted and which goods weren't. The Israeli government replied that canned fruit, fruit juices and chocolate are blocked, while at the same time canned meat, canned tuna, mineral water, sesame paste
Tahini
Tahini or sesame paste , is a paste of ground sesame seeds used in cooking. North African, Greek and West Asian tahini is made of hulled, lightly roasted seeds. East Asian sesame paste is made of unhulled seeds. The Arabic word tahin simply means flour.Tahini is a major component of hummus and...
, tea and coffee are allowed into the Gaza Strip.
According to the Failing Gaza after one year report by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and other organisations cement, glass, steel, bitumen, wood, paint, doors, plastic pipes, metal pipes, metal reinforcement rods, aggregate, generators, high voltage cables and wooden telegraph poles are "high priority reconstruction materials currently with no or highly limited entry into Gaza through official crossings." A 2009 UN report by Kevin M. Cahill called the restrictions "Draconian", and said that reconstruction is halted because Israel does not permit the importation of steel, cement or glass, among other building materials, and has restricted importation of lentil
Lentil
The lentil is an edible pulse. It is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds...
s, pasta, tomato paste
Tomato paste
Tomato paste is a thick paste that is made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce moisture, straining them to remove the seeds and skin, and cooking them again to reduce them to a thick, rich concentrate...
and juice, as well as batteries for hearing aids for deaf children. He said that despite the restrictions UNRWA has been able to provide a basic food supply to over a million refugees in the Gaza Strip. He added that he "visited a food station where hundreds of displaced persons waited to collect their meager staples of rice, sugar, lentils and cooking oil. While this program may save people from starvation, it is a diet that does not prevent the highest level of anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
in the region, with alarming rates of childhood stunting due to inadequate nutrition."
The Palestinians who negotiated the 2008 cease-fire believed that the commerce in Gaza was to be restored to the levels preceding Israel's withdrawal in 2005 and Hamas's electoral victory. Israeli policy tied the easing of the blockade on success in reducing rocket fire. Israel permitted a 20% increase in goods trucked into Gaza in the pre-lull period, up from 70 to 90 truckloads a day, including not only humanitarian supplies but also clothes, shoes, refrigerators, and construction materials. Fuel supplies increased from 55MW worth to 65MW worth. BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
reported in 11 November that Gaza was then receiving only 28% of the amount of goods traded before the Hamas takeover.
Over the one month period from 4 November to 8 December, approximately 700 truck loads of goods went into Gaza, accounting for approximately 1/40th of estimated pre-blockade commerce.
Israel stated that food imports into the Strip were restricted by its inability to operate at border checkpoints. It accused Hamas of exacerbating fuel shortages by leading labor union strikes by power plant workers. It has also accused Hamas of underfunding the Gaza health care system, and then blaming the situation on Israel despite supposed free trade of medical supplies. Shipments of permitted aid including medicines have expired
Shelf life
Shelf life is the length of time that food, drink, medicine, chemicals, and many other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale, use, or consumption...
due to the time taken to get permission to pass through border crossings requiring their destruction. Israel states that three people claimed to require medical attention in Israel were in fact planning attacks in Israel as the reason why Israel imposes travel restrictions on Gazans.
Tunnels
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
on the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The tunnels connect the Egyptian town of Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
with the Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
of Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
. As a result of the blockade, these tunnels have become a vital supply artery for Gaza.
The tunnels are used for various purposes. They have been used to transport people (in and out) and commercial materials like medicine, food and clothes, cigarettes, alcohol, and vehicle parts into Gaza. Israel says they are used to smuggle what it claims to be illegal arms (including rockets, mortars and explosives) to Gaza militants. Often cars are sliced into four parts and transported across and re-assembled in Gaza. Ahead of the Islamic festival, Eid al-Adha, they were used to transport live cattle.
According to a tunnel operator, Israel bombards tunnels from the air, while Egypt either pumps poisonous gases, water or detonates explosives to destroy the tunnels. During the Gaza war, Israel destroyed most of the tunnels, reducing their number to 150 (from 3000) as of late 2009. Egypt is constructing an underground steel barrier to prevent circumvention of the blockade through tunnels.
Effects of land blockade on Gaza
There have been several reports and studies analysing the effect of the blockade on Gaza.In July, 2008, an UNRWA report on the situation in Gaza stated that "the number of households in Gaza below the consumption poverty line continued to grow, reaching 51.8 percent in 2007 (from 50.7 percent in 2006)". In the same year, a Palestinian Bureau of Statistics study concluded that 80% of families in Gaza were living below the poverty line. The CIA World Fact book places this figure at an estimated 70% for 2009.
A World Health Organisation assessment conducted in 2009 claimed that the level of anemia in babies (9–12 months) was as high as 65%, while a Socio-economic and Food Security Survey Report stated that 61% of Gazans are food insecure and reliant on humanitarian aid. Of those that are food insecure, 65% are children under 18 years. Lastly, a European Network of Implementing Development Agencies (EUNIDA) report notes that, because of the security buffer zone imposed around Gaza as part of the blockade, as of June 2009, 46% of agricultural land was either inaccessible or out of production.
On 14 June 2010, the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
noted that the increasing scarcity of items has led to rises in cost of goods while quality has fallen. There is also "an acute electricity crisis", where electricity supplies are "interrupted for seven hours a day on average". As a consequence, they note that public services, particularly health services, have suffered, posing "a serious risk to the treatment of patients". In addition, medical equipment is difficult to repair, and medical staff cannot leave to gain more training. Lastly, the ICRC note that sanitation is suffering, because construction projects lack the equipment needed, or the equipment is of poor quality. Only 60% of the population is connected to a sewerage collection system, with the rest polluting the Gaza aquifer. As a result, water is largely "unfit for consumption".
A 25 May 2010 United Nations Development Programme report stated that, as a result of the blockade, most of Gaza's manufacturing industry has closed, and unemployment stood at an estimated 40%, a decrease on previous years. The blockade has also prevented much needed construction, noting that almost "none of the 3,425 homes destroyed during Cast Lead have been reconstructed, displacing around 20,000 people". Less than 20% "of the value of the damages to educational facilities has been repaired", only "half of the damage to the power network has been repaired", "no repair has been made to the transport infrastructure", "a quarter of damaged farmland has been rehabilitated and only 40% of private businesses have been repaired".
Economic sanctions
Following the implementation of the blockade, Israel halted all exports from the Gaza Strip. Israeli human rights organization GishaGisha
Gisha , originally KEYSHA is a neighbourhood in Tehran, Iran. The neighborhood is known as a center for youth recreation, shopping, and dating...
, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, obtained an Israeli government document which says "A country has the right to decide that it chooses not to engage in economic relations or to give economic assistance to the other party to the conflict, or that it wishes to operate using 'economic warfare,' ". Sari Bashi, the director of Gisha, said that this showed that Israel wasn't imposing its blockade for its stated reasons of a security measure to prevent weapons from entering Gaza, but rather as collective punishment for the Palestinian population of Gaza.
In November 2010, the Israeli government allowed Gaza to resume agricultural exports, while still banning industrial exports. Shortly afterward, Gazan farmers began exporting strawberries
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
, peppers
Bell pepper
Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper or a pepper and capsicum , is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum . Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange and green. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as...
, carnation
Carnation
Dianthus caryophyllus is a species of Dianthus. It is probably native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years. It is the wild ancestor of the garden carnation.It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 80 cm tall...
s, and cherry tomato
Cherry tomato
A cherry tomato is a small variety of tomato that has been cultivated since at least the early 1800s and thought to have originated in Peru and Northern Chile. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from being spherical to slightly oblong in shape...
es. The exports travel to Europe via Israel, and Israel then transfers the money to agricultural cooperatives, which in turn pay the Palestinian farmers. The exports were implemented with aid from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, which was monitored by the Israeli defense establishment.
Naval blockade
Israel has combined the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza's land borders with a maritime blockade of Gaza's port and coastline by the Israeli Navy. Israeli patrol boatPatrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
s permanently patrol Gaza’s coastline and routinely fire on Palestinian fishing vessels who go more than 6 nautical miles from shore. Israel has intercepted a number of vessels providing aid for Gaza, claiming that they may be providing goods that may be used to build arms. Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
and Mairead Maguire were captured by Israel attempting to sail to Gaza and deported. The supplies McKinney and Maguire were carrying on board were later delivered to Gaza over land by truck.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
has said that Turkish warships will escort Turkish boats bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Effect on the fishing industry
The sea blockade has caused damage to Gaza fishing industry. Palestinian fishing was originally to be permitted up to 20 nautical miles (37 km) offshore under the 1994 Gaza-Jericho agreementGaza-Jericho Agreement
The Gaza–Jericho Agreement of 4 May 1994 was a follow-up treaty to the Oslo Accords in which the details of Palestinian autonomy were concluded....
. The agreement wasn't implemented and Israel allows fishermen to travel only 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) offshore, reduced from 6 nmi (11.1 km) in 2007. Israeli officials say the restrictions are necessary because of past incidents of Palestinians using fishing boats for smuggling and attacks. One fisherman who went outside these limits was forced to strip down to his underwear and swim to a naval vessel. He was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken in for questioning. The Israeli Navy's response was that it was checking for weapons. The Navy reports they intercepted the craft entering Gaza from Egypt. B'Tselem has released a report documenting the "continual shooting at, abuse of, and humiliation of" Palestinian fishermen.
According to the Fishing Under Fire Report 2009, since the declaration of the "ceasefire"(18 January 2009), till the end of 2009:
– 1 fisherman was killed by naval gunfire.
– at least 7 fishermen have been injured by naval gunfire and at least another one sustained burns after shelling in the sea, while another fisherman was reported by several media to be lightly injured by gunfire, but his name wasn't reported.
– at least 6 Palestinian civilians were injured on shore by Israeli Naval gunfire (among them 4 children) and several others have been reportedly injured (among them another 5 fishermen have been reportedly injured on shore by Israeli shelling)
– 68 arrests of fishermen have been reported (at least 2 fishermen arrests twice) and 29 "confiscations" of fishing boats. Several fishing boats have been returned but with damages and equipment missing, and at least one hassaka (small fishing boat) was confiscated again.
– 1 Greek boat of the Free Gaza Movement ("Spirit of Humanity", official name "Arion") was seized and confiscated and all the 21 passengers and crew detained and later deported.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has estimated that Gaza fishermen need to journey at least 12–15 nautical miles from shore to catch larger shoals, and sardines in particular are 6 nmi (11.1 km) offshore. Shoals closer to shore have been depleted. The total catch in 1999 was nearly 4,000 tons in pre-blockade 1999. This was reduced to 2,700 tons in 2008. In the 90s, the Gaza fishing industry was worth $10 million annually or 4% of the total Palestinian economy; this was halved between 2001 and 2006. 45,000 Palestinians were employed in the fishing industry, employed in jobs such as catching fish, repairing nets and selling fish. Fish also provided much-needed animal protein to Gazans' diet.
The International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
also notes that "90% of Gaza's 4000 fishermen are now considered either poor (with a monthly income of between 100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less than 100 dollars a month), up from 50% in 2008." Nezar Ayyash, head of Gaza's fishermen's union, is quoted as saying that he has been arrested and his boat confiscated several times.
Energy restrictions
Almost all of Gaza's liquid fuel and about half of its electricity are supplied by Israel, while Gaza's sole power plant runs on crude diesel supplied by Israel. In late October 2007, in response to persistent rocket fire on Southern Israel, the Security Cabinet of IsraelSecurity Cabinet of Israel
The Political-Security Cabinet or The Ministers Committee on Security Affairs is a narrow forum of 'Inner Cabinet' within the Israeli Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister of Israel, with the purpose of outlining a foreign and defense policy and implementing it...
decided to cut diesel exports to Gaza by 15% and gasoline exports by 10%, and to create targeted electrical outages for 15 minutes after a rocket attack. According to Israeli officials, the energy flow to hospitals and Israeli shipments of crude diesel to Gaza's sole power plant would remain unaffected. The Israeli government argued that these limited energy cuts are a non-violent way to protest against Hamas rocket attacks.
The following day, Attorney General of Israel
Attorney General of Israel
The Attorney General of Israel stands at the head of the legal system of the executive branch and the head of the public legal establishment, in charge of protecting the rule of law and as such entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities...
Menachem Mazuz
Menachem Mazuz
Menachem Mazuz is an Israeli jurist, who served as the Israeli Attorney General in the years 2004-2010. Mazuz was born in Djerba, Tunisia, the fourth in a family of nine children of the rabbi of one of the island's Jewish communities...
suspended the electricity cuts, and the Israeli Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
gave the government three days to justify its energy cuts policy.
On 1 December 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the electricity cuts were unlawful, and ordered the Israeli military to stop them by the following day. In its ruling, however, the court allowed Israel to continue reducing its diesel and gasoline shipments to Gaza.
Control of Gazan air space
The Oslo AccordsOslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
interim peace agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel specify Israeli security control over Gazan airspace and coastal waters.
Gazan air space is controlled by radar. Unmanned aerial surveillance drones regularly patrol, there are regular overflights by Israeli fighter jets and a surveillance balloon is tethered near the Erez crossing.
Although the Yasser Arafat International Airport
Yasser Arafat International Airport
Yasser Arafat International Airport , formerly Gaza International Airport and Dahaniya International Airport, is located in the Gaza Strip, in Rafah close to the Egyptian border....
was destroyed by the Israeli Army in 2002, there is a remaining landing strip at the Gaza Airstrip
Gaza Airstrip
Gaza Airstrip, also known as Gush Katif Airport, is a small airfield in the Gaza Strip approximately two miles north of the town of Khan Yunis, and adjacent to the UNRWA Khan Younis refugee camp. It is immediately west of the former Israeli settlement of Ganei Tal, and named after the former...
which is potentially capable of accommodating STOL
STOL
STOL is an acronym for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe aircraft with very short runway requirements.-Definitions:There is no one accepted definition of STOL and many different definitions have been used by different authorities and nations at various times and for a myriad of...
aircraft such as the DHC-7 were the air blockade to be lifted.
Egyptian arguments
Egypt's argument is that it cannot open Rafah crossing unless the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud AbbasMahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
controls the crossing and international monitors are present. Egypt Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit is an Egyptian diplomat who was the Foreign Minister of Egypt from 11 July 2004 to 6 March 2011, since the government of Ahmed Nazif took office. Aboul-Gheit previously served as Egypt's ambassador to the United Nations. In December 2005 he began mediating the Chad-Sudan conflict...
said Hamas wants the border opened because it would represent Egyptian recognition of the group's control of Gaza. "Of course this is something we cannot do," he said, "because it would undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority and consecrate the split between Gaza and the West Bank."
Following the events of the Gaza flotilla raid
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
in May 2010, after Egypt opened its borders with Gaza, it was reported that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was caught between the need to appease growing public anger at Israel's actions and the necessity of maintaining his close relationship with Israel. This friendship was needed to secure more than $2bn of American aid annually, money on which many analysts believe Mubarak's regime depended on.
Israeli arguments
In September 2007, citing an intensification of Qassam rocketQassam rocket
The Qassam rocket is a simple steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. Three models have been produced and used between 2001 and 2011....
attacks, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
prevented the transfer of electricity, fuel, and other supplies into Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. Israel stated that the purpose of the blockade was to pressure Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
into ending the rocket attacks and to deprive them of the supplies necessary for the continuation of rocket attacks. Israel argues that it is not legally responsible for Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
beyond whatever is necessary to avoid a humanitarian crisis.
While there are differing views in Israel concerning the Gaza blockade, most Israelis equate security with survival and peace. Israel’s leaders believe that the blockade of the Gaza Strip, among other security and deterrence measures, have
brought about a quiet in the area. As of the date of the Gaza flotilla incident, no Israeli had been killed in a terrorist attack in more than a year. Therefore, the Israeli government is reluctant to abandon the blockade tactic that is working well from its perspective.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained that the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Gaza. He said, “(I)t’s our obligation—as well as our right in accordance to international law and to common sense—to prevent these weapons
from entering by air, sea, and land.” Referring to the Gaza flotilla, he added, “Had the blockade been breached, this flotilla would have been followed by dozens, by hundreds of ships. The amount of weapons that can be transported aboard a ship is totally different from what we saw get through the tunnels.”. He argued that the consequences of Israel’s failure to maintain the blockade would be “an Iranian port in Gaza, only a few dozen kilometers from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.”
An Israeli government document stated,
A country has the right to decide that it chooses not to engage in economic relations or to give economic assistance to the other party to the conflict, or that it wishes to operate using 'economic warfare'.An Israeli government spokesman added in 2010 that the blockade is intended to bring about a political goal and that Israel "could not lift the embargo altogether as long as Hamas remains in control" of Gaza.
Speaking in 2006, Dov Weisglass, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, allegedly said that, "The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." Although this quote is widely reported, the original quote appears to have been: "It's like an appointment with a dietician. The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but won't die." Weisglass has denied this report.
According to US diplomatic cables obtained by the Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
organization, diplomats stationed in the US embassy in Tel Aviv were briefed by Israelis on the blockade of the Gaza Strip. One of the cables states that "as part of their overall embargo plan against Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed (...) on multiple occasions that they intend to keep the Gazan economy on the brink of collapse without quite pushing it over the edge".
Legal arguments
According to Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
professor emeritus of international law Richard Falk, there exists an "overwhelming consensus" view among qualified international law specialists that both the blockade and its enforcement are illegal.
In September 2011, a UN investigative committee concluded in the Palmer Report that the blockade is legal.
The findings of the Palmer report on the legality of the blockade were disputed by a panel of five UN human rights experts, who said that the blockade amounted to a "flagrant contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law". The panel said the Palmer report failed to recognize that the naval blockade was part of Israel's closure policy toward Gaza, which disproportionately affects civilians. Richard Falk said the authors of the Palmer report were poorly qualified to assess legal aspects of the blockade, and that they were politically motivated to find the naval blockade legal. U.N. experts say Israel's blockade of Gaza illegal (Reuters, Sept. 13, 2011)
Since 2005 Israel asserts that it ended its occupation of Gaza when it disengaged from the coastal strip in 2005
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
. After Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza strip, Israel no longer has troops stationed within Gaza. Israel has retained control over Gaza's airspace and coastline, and over its own border with the territory. Egypt has control of its border with Gaza. Israel and Egypt also control the flow of goods in and out. Israel controls fuel imports to Gaza, and also controls the majority of electricity used in Gaza (approximately 60%), which it supplies from the Israeli electrical grid. There have been a series of attacks by Israeli ground forces such as the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
, as well as rocket attacks
Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip have occurred since 2001. Between 2001 and January 2009, over 8,600 rockets had been launched, leading to 28 deaths and several hundred injuries, as well as widespread psychological trauma and disruption of daily life.The weapons,...
on Israeli civilians and cross-border attacks by Gazan militant groups against Israeli troops.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
argues that Israel is still an occupying power and is responsible for Gaza under the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which seeks to protect the civilian population.
BBC's World Affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds
Paul Reynolds (BBC journalist)
Paul Michel Reynolds is a BBC journalist, who is currently BBC News Online's World Affairs Correspondent. He was educated at Ardingly College and Worcester College, Oxford. He was formerly the BBC's Royal Correspondent. His son is the BBC's Beijing correspondent, James Reynolds.-References:...
said that if Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
is treated as a "hostile entity" the question is whether the measures used by Israel and Egypt sufficiently distinguish between civilian and military. The 1977 amendment to the Geneva Conventions protocols
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
prohibits the use of collective measures that do not distinguish between civilians and military. The amendment protects civilian populations in time of conflicts that fall short of war. Israel has not signed these protocols but there is an expectation internationally that it should respect them. Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
does not administer an internationally recognized state and also has not signed these protocols. Amnesty International said that “The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately.” And that as the occupying power, Israel has a duty under international law to ensure the welfare of Gaza’s inhabitants, including their rights to health, education, food and adequate housing.
Justus Weiner
Justus Weiner
Justus Reid Weiner is an Israeli-American lawyer at the firm of Geraldson, Marks and Xeno in Jerusalem and scholar. He is a UC Berkeley law school graduate, a Boston native, and a member of the Israel and New York Bar Associations. According to an interview by Salon books, Weiner worked at the...
and Avi Bell
Avi Bell
Abraham Bell is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and at Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law. Bell received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Chicago, and his S.J.D...
of the JCPA
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is a public policy think tank devoted to research and analysis of critical issues facing the Middle East. The center is located in Jerusalem, Israel...
said that Israel’s combat actions and blockade cannot be considered collective punishment. They cite Article 75(4)(b) of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, which says the bar on collective punishment forbids the imposition of criminal-type penalties on individuals or groups on the basis of another’s guilt, or the commission of acts that would otherwise violate the rules of distinction and/or proportionality. According to Weiner and Bell, the blockade does not "involve the imposition of criminal-type penalties or the violation of the rules of distinction and proportionality."
United Nations
On 24 January 2008, the United Nations Human Rights CouncilUnited Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
released a statement calling for Israel to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip, allow the continued supply of food, fuel, and medicine, and reopen border crossings. According to the Jerusalem Post, this was the 15th time in less than two years the council condemned Israel for its human rights record regarding the Palestinian territories. The proceedings were boycotted by Israel and the United States. Prior to this, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes
John Holmes (British diplomat)
Sir John Holmes, GCVO, KBE, CMG is a British diplomat who is a former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator-Life and career:Holmes was born in Preston, in the north of England...
, described the blockade as "collective punishment", saying, "We all understand the security problems and the need to respond to that but collective punishment of the people of Gaza is not, we believe, the appropriate way to do that."
On 15 December 2008, following a statement in which he described the embargo on Gaza a crime against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
, United Nations Special Rapporteur Richard A. Falk
Richard A. Falk
Richard Anderson Falk is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, the author or co-author of 20 books and the editor or co-editor of another 20 books, speaker, activist on world affairs, and an appointee to two United Nations positions on the Palestinian...
was prevented from entering the Palestinian territories by Israeli authorities and expelled from the region. The Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Ambassador to the United Nations Itzhak Levanon said that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was "hopelessly unbalanced," "redundant at best and malicious at worst."
In August 2009, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay criticised Israel for the blockade in a 34-page report, calling it a violation of the rules of war.
In March 2010, United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
Ban Ki-Moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
stated that the blockade of Gaza is causing "unacceptable suffering" and that families were living in "unacceptable, unsustainable conditions".
A UN Fact Finding mission in September 2009 led by South African Judge Richard Goldstone
Richard Goldstone
Richard Joseph Goldstone is a South African former judge. After working for 17 years as a commercial lawyer, he was appointed by the South African government to serve on the Transvaal Supreme Court from 1980 to 1989 and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa from 1990 to 1994...
(the Goldstone report) concluded that the blockade was possibly a crime against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
, and recommended that the matter be referred to the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
if the situation has not improved in six months.
In May 2010, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs , is a United Nations body formed in December 1991 by General Assembly Resolution 46/182...
stated that the formal economy in Gaza has collapsed since the imposition of the blockade. They also stated that the "restrictions imposed on the civilian population by the continuing blockade of the Gaza Strip amount to collective punishment, a violation of international humanitarian law."
In June 2010, United Nations envoy to the Middle East and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
stated that "The policy of Gaza is counter-productive and what [Israel] should be doing is allow material in to rebuild homes and sanitation and power and water systems and allow business to flourish. Nor do we in fact do damage to the position of Hamas by harming people in Gaza. People are harmed when the quality of service is poor and people cannot work." He also called for Hamas to stop the "terrorism coming out of Gaza". In the same month, Robert Serry, the UN special envoy for Middle East peace process, also said that "The flotilla crisis is the latest symptom of a failed policy. The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and the current policy is unacceptable and counter-productive, and requires a different, more positive strategy. The closure and blockade of the Gaza Strip needs to come to an end. There is now a welcome international consensus on Gaza."
In the September 2011 Palmer Report, the UN investigative committee for the 2010 Flotilla to Gaza said that the Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal under international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, but that "the Panel cannot make
definitive findings either of fact or law. But it can give its view."
European Union
EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina GeorgievaKristalina Georgieva
Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva is a Bulgarian economist and politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response in the second college of the Barroso Commission....
, said that she believes that the "humanitarian crisis...was artificially created because of the [Israeli] blockade," but added that the idea of a flotilla
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
is not the correct action to take: "We are not in favor of attempts to help people in this way."
Countries
TurkeyTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
made harsh comments against the blockade, especially following the Gaza flotilla raid
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Erdoğan raised the possibility of trying to forcibly breach the blockade by sending the Turkish Navy
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...
to escort any future flotilla or by trying to visit Gaza himself. The Turkish government made it clear that it opposes the blockade and regards it as illegal, and before the flotilla raid, issued a demand for safe passage. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
Ahmet Davutoglu
Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu is a Turkish political scientist, an academic and an ambassador. On May 1, 2009, he was named Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey after being the chief advisor to the Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey.-Life and career:...
said that Turkey was willing to normalize relations with Israel if it lifted the blockade. Following Israel's easing of the blockade, the Turkish Foreign Ministry called it "a positive but insufficient step", and said that "Turkey considers that Israel's inhuman blockade of Gaza represents a threat to regional peace and stability and considers that the blockade must be entirely lifted.
Ireland
After visiting Gaza in March 2010, Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin is an Irish politician who has been leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011. He is a Teachta Dála for the Cork South Central constituency...
described the Israeli blockade of Palestinian-ruled Gaza as "inhumane and unacceptable" and called on the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and other countries to increase pressure on Israel to lift the blockade. Michael Martin was the first EU foreign minister to enter Gaza in over a year. He said that all that is being achieved through the blockade is to "enrich Hamas and marginalize even further the voices of moderation."
United Kingdom
David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, the UK Prime Minister, during Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime minister's questions is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom that takes place every Wednesday during which the prime minister spends half an hour answering questions from members of parliament...
, stated that "Friends of Israel – and I count myself a friend of Israel – should be saying to the Israelis that the blockade actually strengthens Hamas's grip on the economy and on Gaza, and it's in their own interests to lift it and allow these vital supplies to get through. ... We should do everything we can through the UN, where resolution 1860 is absolutely clear about the need to end the blockade and to open up Gaza." In July 2010, Cameron called on Israel to relax the blockade. He said "Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp." In response, Ephraim Sneh, former Israeli minister, said: "Cameron is right – Gaza is a prison camp, but those who control the prison are Hamas. I'm totally against the double standards of a nation which fights the Taliban but is showing its solidarity with their brothers, Hamas.
Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
speaking after the Gaza flotilla raid
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
, criticized the blockade saying “So the events of the last 24/48 hours confirm in my mind, as they do if you hear what William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
and David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
have done and everyone in Government, the view that the blockade on Gaza is neither sustainable nor tenable in its present form.” He also commented that "If we needed any confirmation about the unjustified and untenable blockade of Gaza, we have been reminded overnight of the need to lift this blockade. What is going on in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. While of course Israel has every right to defend itself and its citizens from attack, we must now move towards lifting the blockade from Gaza as soon as possible."
William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
, the Foreign Secretary, said in a prepared speech to the House of Commons that the blockade of Gaza was "unacceptable and unsustainable", and that it was "the view of the British government, including the previous government, that restrictions on Gaza should be lifted – a view confirmed in United Nations security council resolution 1860 which called for sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and which called on states to alleviate the humanitarian and economic situation", and that "current Israeli restrictions are counterproductive for Israel's long term security".
Acting Labour Leader Harriet Harman also stated that "This blockade must end."
United States
Although the United States officially supports the blockade, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Israeli Minister of Defence Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
in February 2010 and urged him to ease the blockade. The United States has long been pressing Israel to ease the restrictions on Gaza. Speaking about the Gaza flotilla raid
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
, which occurred on 31 May 2010, Clinton stated that "The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable." In regards to the impending second Gaza flotilla, Clinton has stated that, "the Gaza flotilla is not necessary or useful."
Groups and individuals
On 7 March 2008, several international aid groups, including Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, CARE International UK, and Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
, issued a report saying that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip was more acute than at any time since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967. While critical of Palestinian militants firing rockets from Gaza into Israel, and acknowledging that "Israel has the right and obligation to protect its citizens", they said that as the "occupying power in Gaza" it also has a legal duty to ensure Gaza civilians have access to food, clean water, electricity and medical care. They urged Israel to lift the blockade, characterizing it as collective punishment
Collective punishment
Collective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behavior of one or more other individuals or groups. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions...
against the 1.5 million residents of the territory.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, "The hardship faced by Gaza's 1.5 million people cannot be addressed by providing humanitarian aid. The only sustainable solution is to lift the closure." Describing the blockade itself, they referred to it as "a collective punishment
Collective punishment
Collective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behavior of one or more other individuals or groups. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions...
imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law".
The Islamic Action Front
Islamic Action Front
The Islamic Action Front is a political party in Jordan. It is the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan....
(IAF), a Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian Islamist group, criticized Egypt for the blockade and accused it of "collaborating" with Israel and the United States. "The Egyptian authorities are ...increasing the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza by building the steel wall and closing the border crossings with Gaza," said Hamzah Mansour, a member of the Shura Council of the IAF.
Notable individuals have also taken positions on the blockade:
- Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
– In June 2009, former President Jimmy Carter met with Hamas leaders in Gaza for three hours. Before his meeting with former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas officials, President Carter spoke forcefully against the economic blockade of Gaza. "The responsibility for this terrible human rights crime lies in Jerusalem, Cairo, Washington, and throughout the international community. This abuse must cease; the crimes must be investigated; the walls must be brought down, and the basic right of freedom must come to you," Carter tells the crowd at an awards ceremony for UN refugee school pupils. - Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVIBenedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
– The Pope Benedict during his visit to BethlehemBethlehemBethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
in May 2009 specifically mentioned the plight of Gazans, saying: "Please be assured of my solidarity with you in the immense work of rebuilding which now lies ahead and my prayers that the embargo will soon be lifted."
See also
- Criticism of the Israeli governmentCriticism of the Israeli governmentCriticism of the Israeli government, often referred to simply as criticism of Israel is an ongoing subject of journalistic and scholarly commentary and research within the scope of International relations theory, expressed in terms of political science...
- Gaza–Israel conflict
- Rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel
- Gaza flotilla raidGaza flotilla raidThe Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
also known as the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010- Legal assessments of the Gaza flotilla raidLegal assessments of the Gaza flotilla raidMany legal assessments of the Gaza flotilla raid were published subsequent to the event. International law experts differed over the legality of the action by Israel...
- Legal assessments of the Gaza flotilla raid
External links
- The Gaza Flotillas to Come: Some Ground Rules before Setting Out – Jerusalem Issues Brief
- Israel’s Naval Blockade of Gaza Is Legal, Necessary – JCPA
- Guide: Gaza under blockade and Guide: Eased Gaza blockade – BBC
- Gaza: 1.5 million people trapped in despair – International Committee of the Red Cross
- – May 2010.htm Behind the Headlines: The Israeli humanitarian lifeline to Gaza – Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- LOCKED IN: THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACT OF TWO YEARS OF BLOCKADE ON THE GAZA STRIP – UNITED NATIONS Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory
- San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994
- Partial List of Items Prohibited/Permitted into the Gaza Strip as of May 2010
- The Hard-Line on Grocery Items by Queen Rania of Jordan, The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
, 7 June 2010 - Pressure Mounts On Israel To Ease Gaza Blockade – audio report by NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, 16 June 2010 - The EU and the Gaza Blockade by Esra Bulut and Carolin Goerzig – European Union Institute for Security Studies
- "The Legal Basis of Israel's Naval Blockade of Gaza" by Ruth Lapidoth. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 13 March 2011.