State of the Gaza Strip Border Crossings (01 – 31 May 2018)
The Israeli closure imposed on the Gaza Strip continues for the 11th consecutive year. This report covers the state of the Gaza Strip crossings in April, during which crossings for the movement of persons and goods witnessed further restrictions, refuting the Israeli claims of easing the closure. As for the commercial crossings, the Israeli authorities continue to impose tightened restrictions on the entry of goods classified as “dual use materials.” The Israeli forces put 118 types of goods on the list of the “dual-use materials”, which include hundreds of basic goods and commodities. Moreover, the Israeli authorities continued to ban the exportation of Gaza products, making an exception for very limited quantities that do not exceed 4.7% of the monthly exports before the closure imposed in June 2007. As for the Crossings for the movement of persons, the Israeli authorities continue to impose tightened restrictions on the movement of the Gaza Strip residents through Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossing, narrowly allowing the travel of limited categories. As part of imposing further restrictions on the travel of these categories, the Israeli authorities lately forced some of these categories, particularly directly students studying abroad and travelers through al-Karamah crossing, to travel in buses that carry them from Beit Hanoun Crossing to al-Karamah crossing within “shuttle service”, exaggerating the suffering of these categories and imposing complicated restrictions on their movement.
The full report is available online at:
https://pchrgaza.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/clouser-may-2018.pdf