In light of the decision reached by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to extend the court's territorial jurisdiction to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, Gisha wishes to make the following points:
Israel is obligated to protect the health and safety of all people living under its control, including by ensuring that the vaccine is available in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. This will necessarily require close cooperation with Palestinian authorities and the international community, but their involvement does not absolve Israel from its ultimate responsibility toward Palestinians living under occupation. Where needed, Israel must contribute to covering the cost of the vaccine and its distribution, unconditionally.
To mark International Human Rights Day, Gisha is proud to release a gender analysis of Israel’s permit regime in Gaza. Israel's official policy on travel by Palestinians to and from the Strip is detailed in the "Status of Authorizations," a document produced by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). The criteria listed in the document and its numerous ancillary procedures dictate the few and narrow circumstances in which Palestinians are eligible to apply for a travel permit from Israel.
In early March 2020, Israel severely tightened existing restrictions on movement of people to and from Gaza against the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak. Unlike in Israel itself and in the rest of the world, where temporary lockdowns have been eased and sometimes reinstated, for seven months Israel has continued to limit exit from Gaza to patients in need of urgent medical care and their companions, with rare exceptions. As a result, traffic at Erez Crossing has plummeted to just 3% of what it was at the beginning of 2020.
The last six months have been a real roller coaster ride for Gaza’s textile industry. The global outbreak of coronavirus initially brought with it an avalanche of orders for masks…
Double Lockdown, a report released by Gisha, examines how years of sweeping movement restrictions combined with pandemic closures have impacted the local job market and purchasing power.
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.
High unemployment; long blackouts, severe shortages of clean water, limited economic opportunities; a very young, educated population with immense potential, and a closure that undermines their chances of succeeding. This is life in Gaza today.
Israel's isolation of the Gaza Strip and how it serves annexationist goals in the West Bank
May 7, 2020. An opinion poll commissioned by Gisha in early April 2020 shows that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority, or at least a plurality, of the Israeli public…
