In a report released today, Tuesday, on the 15th anniversary of the siege of the Gaza Strip, Human Rights Watch said the siege was part of two Israeli authorities’ crimes against humanity: apartheid and the persecution of millions of Palestinians.
The human rights organization explained that Israel’s comprehensive restrictions on leaving the Gaza Strip deprive the Gaza Strip’s population of more than two million of people from improving their living conditions.
He noted in the report that restrictions on the Rafah crossing due to Egyptian policies, including unnecessary delays and mistreatment of passengers, have exacerbated the human rights violations of its closure.
The lengthy report cites several testimonies, one of which concerned the director of the Israeli-Palestinian case at the organization, Omar Shakir, who said that Israel, with the help of Egypt, had turned the Gaza Strip into a prison.
Israel, with the help of Egypt, has turned Gaza into an open prison. For 15 years. pic.twitter.com/r5clMxhHiT
– Human Rights Watch (@hrw) June 14, 2022
In its report, the organization called on Israel to end the general travel ban imposed on Gaza residents, to allow people to travel freely through the Gaza Strip, and in the most severe cases, to conduct personal examinations and physical examinations. For security purposes
Human Rights Watch said it had written to Israeli and Egyptian officials seeking comment on their findings, but received no response at the time of writing.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Omar Shakir, the organization’s director of Israeli-Palestinian affairs, confirmed that restrictions on the Gaza Strip would prevent residents from improving their living conditions.
Gaza has three crossings called Rafah (south) that connect it to Egypt, in addition to the two crossings that are controlled and partially opened by Israel, namely Karam Shalom, which is dedicated to trade (south) and Beit Hanoun. Is connected. Which is dedicated to the movement of people (north).
Source: Lebanon Debate
