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Gaza textile factory owners Hassan Shehadeh and Rizk Al Madhoun discuss the state of the Strip’s textile sector in a clip produced by Gisha in Gaza. Since March 2020, Israel has further tightened restrictions at Erez Crossing under the guise of the pandemic, preventing travel by traders, among others. “We haven't been able to enter Israel for months to meet businesspeople and Israeli company owners, to trade ideas and close deals,” says Al Madhoun. “It harms our work.”

In September 2020, Gisha convened a group of Israeli, Palestinian and international stakeholders for the Gaza Policy Forum. The purpose of the forum was to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and distill recommendations for actions that would advance solutions to Gaza’s urgent needs, help improve living conditions, and safeguard human rights.

In September 2020, Gisha convened a group of Israeli, Palestinian and international stakeholders for the Gaza Policy Forum. The goal of the event was to evaluate the situation on the ground and distill policy recommendations to improve living conditions and safeguard human rights in the Strip.

In April 2018, Israel barred entrance of tires to Gaza in a sweeping and punitive response to burning of tires at demonstrations. The acute shortage has a ripple effect with far-reaching impact on Gaza's economy, as well as putting people in greater risk of injury and death. In photos: The Abu Elba and Dogmush tire shops in Gaza, by Asmaa Elkhaldi

This year, for the first time since 2014, Israel did not conduct aerial herbicide spraying over Gaza, with positive ramifications for the farming sector in the Strip. In a new video published today by human rights organizations Gisha, Adalah and Al Mezan, farmers and herders whose livelihoods depend on the lands closest to the fence with Israel attest to the potential of a season without spraying, the first in years.

Gisha Executive Director Tania Hary addressed the United Nations Security Council in New York City. Hary, who was invited to brief the Council on the situation in the Gaza Strip, stressed the heavy damage – to the economy, society, families, and well-being – caused by the sweeping access restrictions Israel imposes on Palestinians, particularly in relation to movement between Gaza and the West Bank, as part of the “separation policy”.

To mark International Human Rights Day, Gisha is proud to release "If Only," a new clip exploring what freedom of movement means to young people in Gaza. Recently, 23-year-old photographer Asmaa Elkhaldi and Mohammed Azaiza, Gisha’s field coordinator in the Strip, took to Gaza's streets and asked young men and women what freedom of movement means to them, what they would do if they had it, and what life in Gaza might look like without severe access restrictions. In the clip, people share their take on freedom of movement and on what is needed to create change for Gaza and the region as a whole.

About 600,000 children started a new school year in Gaza last week. 737 schools in the Strip operate out of only 523 structures. The disparity between the number of schools, the number of available structures and the number of students means that 75% of Gaza’s elementary schools operate in two shifts.

To this day, Israel continues to enforce restrictions on access to areas deep inside the Strip and in Gaza’s territorial waters. Beyond the threat to life and limb, Israel’s control over Gaza’s land and sea areas (in the "buffer" and "fishing" zones, as they are referred to) has implications for the Strip's economy and for livelihoods dependent on safe and reliable access to these spaces, including those of men and women working in farming, herding, and fishing.

The national elections in Israel are only three weeks away. Residents of Gaza cannot participate in the elections, but their lives are directly impacted by them. It’s time for a different conversation about Gaza.