The restrictions on movement and goods in the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel date to the early 1990s. After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip. In the same year, Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing. The blockade's stated aims are to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza and exert economic pressure on Hamas. While the blockade's legality has not been adjudicated in court, human rights groups believe it would be deemed illegal and that it is a form of collective punishment, as it restricts the flow of essential goods, contributes to economic hardship, and limits Gazans' freedom of movement. The land, sea, and air blockade isolated Gaza from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory and the world. The blockade and its effects have led to the territory being called an "open-air prison".
Exit and entry into Gaza by sea or air is prohibited. There are only three crossings in and out of Gaza, two of them controlled by Israel and one by Egypt. Israel heavily regulates Palestinians' movement through Erez, with applications considered only for a small number of laborers (less than 5% of the number considered in 2000) and for limited medical and humanitarian reasons.Exits by Palestinians from Gaza via Erez Crossing – Gisha. (26 December 2023). Retrieved from https://gisha.org/en/exits-by-palestinians-via-erez-crossing-to-israel-the-west-bank-and-abroad Israel's military cooperation with Egypt and its control of the population registry (through which it controls who can obtain the necessary travel documents) gives it influence over movement through Rafah.FAQs – Gisha. (2023, 26 November). Retrieved from https://gisha.org/en/faqs Imports are heavily restricted, with "dual use" items permitted only as part of donor projects. This includes construction material and computer equipment. Exports are also heavily restricted, with the main impediment to economic development in Gaza being Israel's ban on virtually all exports from the Strip.The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development, 3rd ed., by Sara Roy.Washington, DC: Institute for Palestine Studies, 2016.
Israel blockaded the Gaza Strip at various levels of intensity in 2005–2006. Israeli-imposed closures date to 1991. In 2007, after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, Israel imposed an indefinite blockade of Gaza that remains in place, on the grounds that Fatah and Palestinian Authority forces had fled the Strip and were no longer able to provide security on the Palestinian side. Israel has said the blockade is necessary to protect itself from Palestinian political violence and rocket attacks, and to prevent dual use goods from entering Gaza.
Israel has been accused of violating or failing to fulfill specific obligations it has under various ceasefire agreements to alleviate or lift the blockade. "Crossings were repeatedly shut and buffer zones were reinstated. Imports declined, exports were blocked, and fewer Gazans were given exit permits to Israel and the West Bank."Ian Bickerton, The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Guide for the Perplexed, A&C Black, 2012 p.238:'In June 2008 Israel increased the severity of the blockade after Egypt brokered a ceasefire . .'The exchange of rockets launched a retaliatory aerial assaults increased late in 2008 with Hamas and Israeli blaming each other for a breakdown in the ceasefire. The evidence suggests Israel broke the ceasefire with a raid into the Gaza Strip that killed six Hamas men on 4 Novembneer- the night of the presidential election in the USA.Noam Chomsky, in Elliot N. Dorff, Danya Ruttenberg, Louis E Newman (eds.), Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: War and National Security Jewish Publication Society, 2010 p.26 :'There were some partial ceasefires. But Israel maintained the siege and then violated ceasefire agreements directly. The most important instance of this was in 2008. Right before the Israeli invasion, there was a ceasefire. It was observed completely by Hamas. The Israeli government concedes that there was not a single Hamas rocket fired during the ceasefire. Israel nevertheless maintained the siege, and in November 2008, Israeli just invaded Gaza outright and killed half a dozen Hamas activists. After that, rockets started.' Human rights groups, international community representatives, and legal professionals have decried the blockade as a form of collective punishment in contravention of international law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention. Rights groups have held Israel mainly responsible as the occupying power.
Background
Israeli imposed closure on the movement of goods and people to and from Gaza dates back to 1991 when Israel cancelled the general exit permit for Palestinians in the occupied territories. This policy was initially temporary, but developed into a permanent administrative measure in March 1993 after heightened levels of violence by Palestinians inside Israel. Since then, the closure has become an institutionalized system in Gaza (and the West Bank), and has varied in intensity but never been completely lifted. As the closure was coming into place, academics and diplomats were already describing it as a form of collective punishment, a trend that continues in more recent times. For example, between 1993 and 1996, total closure was imposed on the Gaza Strip for a cumulative 342 days. During periods of total closure, Israel enforced a complete ban on any movement of people or goods between Gaza and Israel, the West Bank and foreign markets. The economic impact of these closures during 1996 alone was estimated by the World Bank as amounting to losses of almost 40% of Gaza's GNP. In 1994, Israel built the Gaza–Israel barrier as a security measure, despite this, Israeli security establishment has described the closure as having limited value against extremist attacks.Gaza fence was not designed to prevent mass assault on its own, builder said in 2018. (19 October 2023). Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-fence-was-not-designed-to-prevent-mass-assault-on-its-own-builder-said-in-2018 Since then, there are four border crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip through the barrier: the Kerem Shalom, Karni, Erez, and Sufa crossings. All goods bound for Gaza as well as exports passing through Israel must use one of these crossings, and undergo security inspection before being permitted to enter or leave Gaza.
In 2005, Israel withdrew its settlers and forces from the Gaza Strip, redeploying its military along the border. Following Hamas' electoral victory and subsequent military confrontation with opposing party Fatah which led to Hamas taking control over all of Gaza in 2007, Israel further tightened restrictions in an attempt to exert economic pressure on Hamas. With this new tightening of restrictions, all trade was ceased and the entrance of goods was limited to a "humanitarian minimum", allowing only those good which are "essential to the survival of the civilian population". Israeli security officials have described the ban on exports as "a political decision to separate Gaza from the West Bank" further describing it as a matter of "political-security" and a form of "economic warfare".Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), 5 Years and Counting: International Organizations and Donors Continue to Fund Israel's Illegal Closure on the Gaza Strip, Jane 13, 2012, p. 7 (para. 19), online at http://www.pchrgaza.org/ files/2012/closure report13-6.pdf.GISHA, Gaza Export Season;GISHA, What Is the "Separation Policy"?
Additionally, starting in 2009, Egypt built an underground Egypt–Gaza barrier along the Egypt–Gaza border. The stated aim was to block smuggling tunnels. The Rafah Border Crossing is the only lawful crossing point between Egypt and Gaza, and was manned by PA security forces and the European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah. All humanitarian and other supplies passing through Israel or Egypt must pass through these crossings after security inspection.
Until 2013, there were hundreds of smuggling tunnels dug under the Egypt-Gaza border to smuggle goods, including fuel, into Gaza to bypass the blockade.
2005–2006 blockades On 12 September 2005, the final day of the Israeli withdrawal, international politicians such as France's foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and Jordan's deputy prime minister Marwan Muasher warned of Gaza being turned into an open-air prison.Quoted in The Jerusalem Post, 12 September 2005: "We cannot let Gaza be a prison under open skies". He noted that the EU had proposed that European customs agents be posted at Gaza Strip border points, with the agreement of the Palestinian and Israeli sides."We cannot talk about the future of Gaza, the future of the peace process, if there is not an economy starting to develop in the Palestinian territories. That requires entry and exit points and a port", which France and the EU had offered to construct, he said. Four days later, Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly:
Following the disengagement, human rights groups alleged that Israel frequently blockaded Gaza in order to apply pressure on the population "in response to political developments or attacks by armed groups in Gaza on Israeli civilians or soldiers". The special envoy of the Quartet James Wolfensohn noted that security measures made the passage of goods into Gaza slow, that "incidents of violence by the Palestinians and vigorous reprisals by the Israelis" were happening, and that "Gaza had been effectively sealed off from the outside world since the Israeli disengagement [August–September 2005], and the humanitarian and economic consequences for the Palestinian population were profound. There were already food shortages. Palestinian workers and traders to Israel were unable to cross the border".
On 15 January 2006, the Karni crossing – the sole point for exports of goods from Gaza – was closed completely for all kinds of exports. The greenhouse project suffered a huge blow, as the harvest of high-value crops, meant to be exported for Europe via Israel, was essentially lost (with a small part of the harvest donated to local institutions). Moreover, closing of Karni cut off the so-far resilient textile and furniture industries in Gaza from their source of income. Starting February 2006, the Karni crossing was sporadically open for exports, but the amount of goods allowed to be exported was minuscule compared to the amount of goods imported (which, in turn, barely supported Gaza's needs). Between 1 January and 11 May, more than 12,700 tonnes of produce were harvested in Gaza's greenhouses, almost all of it destined for export; out of it, only 1,600 tonnes (less than 13%) were actually exported.
Sanctions on Hamas-led PA governments The election for the Palestinian Legislative Council took place on 25 January 2006, and was won by Hamas. The election took place during a full blockade of Gaza.The Gaza Strip: February Access Report. Closure at Karni Crossing United Nations. Retrieved 10 December 2022 After the PLC was sworn in on 18 February 2006,Excerpts from President Mahmoud Abbas' Speech to the Opening of the PLC . Palestine-Israel Journal, Vol 13 No. 1, May 2006. in addition to its blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israel imposed other sanctions on the PA, including withholding the PA's tax revenue (collected by Israel on the PA's behalf), and imposing travel restrictions on Hamas PLC members. Israel's position is that Hamas is a terrorist organisation that has vowed to destroy Israel, and is responsible for the death of hundreds of its citizens, and neither wanted to have any direct relations with the other. On 20 February, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was nominated to form a new PA government, which was sworn in on 29 March.