Israeli human rights groups condemn Sharon government’s Gaza policies

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By Rick Kelly
9 April 2005

Two prominent Israeli human rights organisations, B’tselem and HaMoked, issued a report March 29 that provided a detailed critique of the Sharon government’s ongoing oppression of the Palestinian population in Gaza. The 98-page document, titled “One Big Prison: freedom of movement to and from the Gaza Strip on the eve of the disengagement plan,” noted that there has been no significant improvement in the living conditions of Gaza residents despite the partial cessation of hostilities between the Israeli army and Palestinian militant groups.

The report also critically examined Israel’s claim that its status as an occupying power in Gaza will end with the pending withdrawal of settlers and military installations within the territory. B’tselem and HaMoked pointed to a number of legal experts’ opinions, as well as precedents in international law, which made clear that Israel will remain an occupying power after the completion of the “unilateral disengagement” plan in Gaza, and will still have all the humanitarian and legal obligations that accompany this status.

Since the eruption of the second Intifada in 2000, Israel has effectively barricaded the 1.3 million residents of Gaza behind the territory’s restricted borders. “ restrictions strangled Gaza, essentially turning the area into one big prison,” the human rights report stated. “It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is easier for a resident of Israel or the West Bank to visit a parent or child who is in prison than it is to visit them in the Gaza Strip.”

Gaza is separated from Israel by a tightly controlled separation barrier that straddles the entire border. Israeli forces also patrol the occupied territory’s boundary with Egypt and control its air and sea borders. The Likud-led government of Ariel Sharon has repeatedly insisted that its clampdown on freedom of movement is driven by the need to prevent terrorist attacks, but B’tselem and HaMoked noted that the arbitrary and indiscriminate restrictions amount to a form of collective punishment that is contrary to international law.

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/apr2005/gaza-a09.shtml