Key Events
Israel closes Rafah crossing (9 June -)
Rafah crossing, the only point of passage from the beleaguered Gaza Strip to the outside world, has been closed by Israel since 9 June 2007 following Hamas' takeover of the Strip. At the crisis' most dire point, as many as 6,000 Palestinians were stranded at the Egyptian border waiting for the closure to be lifted so they may return to their homes and families in Gaza. (Added 27 July 2007)

On 29 and 30 July, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 414 Palestinians who were stranded in Egypt for nearly two months returned to Gaza. They were bussed through Israeli from the Egypt-Israeli border at the north of the Sinai Peninsula, where they were then processed by Israel at the Erez checkpoint at the north of the Gaza Strip.

OCHA reports that this is "the longest period since the implementation of the Access and Movement Agreement (AMA) in November 2005."

Many Palestinians seek out medical treatment and conduct business in Cairo as Israeli closure prevents Palestinians from accessing medical services and jobs in Israel, and the Gaza Strip has been cut off from the West Bank since the second intifada broke out in 2000. While those stranded Palestinians began to run out of money as well as patience, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported in mid-July that "Palestinian sources said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas asked Israel and Egypt to prevent the movement of people from Egypt to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, after Hamas' mid-June takeover of the Coastal Strip," fearing that the rival group Hamas, which won a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament last year, would use the crossing as a means to strengthen its forces.

Whatever the motivation behind the closure, Palestinians in Gaza once again strain under Israel's severe collective punishment. International agencies warn that the economically crippling prolonged closure of Rafah crossing as well as that of the commercial crossing points is reducing the Gaza Strip to near total aid dependency. The consequences of the closure of the Gaza Strip is a potent reminder that, in the words of the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, John Dugard, "the question whether Gaza remains an occupied territory [is] of academic interest only."


Updates
  • Political obfuscation and stranded Palestinians in Egypt, Serene Assir (1 August 2007)
  • Rights groups: Rafah border crossing must be opened, Various undersigned (30 July 2007)
  • Gaza "almost completely" aid-dependant, IRIN (28 July 2007)
  • The siege on the Gaza Strip, B'Tselem (26 July 2007)
  • Economic siege of Gaza leading to humanitarian crisis, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (2 July 2007)
  • Gazans stranded at Rafah border, North Sinai towns, IRIN (25 June 2007)


    Diaries
  • The closed gates to Gaza, Laila El Haddad (31 July 2007)
  • Frustration mounts amongst the stranded at al-Arish, Rami Almeghari writing from al-Arish, Egypt (28 July 2007)
  • Stranded at the border, Rami Almeghari writing from al-Arish, Egypt (20 July 2007)
  • My mother is in her last moments and I cannot cross the borders, Dr. Mona El-Farra writing from Rafah Crossing, occupied Palestine (18 July 2007)
  • At the doors of Gaza, Husam El Nounou writing from al-Areesh, Egypt (5 July 2007)
  • Hello from Rafah, Yassmin Moor writing from Gaza, occupied Palestine (4 July 2007)


    Related Links
  • BY TOPIC: Civil War in Palestine?


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