The Gaza Strip is a topic of great interest and debate in Israel and abroad and it is not always easy to find answers to the most basic questions about it. On this page we attempt to collect concise and up-to-date answers to some of the questions that we are asked frequently: What is the situation in the Gaza Strip? What are the restrictions currently imposed on the movement of people and goods into and out of the Strip? What is Gisha's position on the subject? The Gaza Cheat Sheet is updated regularly.

 

Last update: May 7, 2013

 

There is no shortage of food in Gaza, but severe poverty has increased over years of closure and because of travel restrictions • More than 70% of the population currently receives humanitarian aid • The official unemployment figure is 32.2% (compared to 18.7% in 2000) • There is a shortage of approximately 250 schools in Gaza, among other things because of a ban on construction materials • Classes are taught in two and sometimes three shifts.

Entrance of goods into Gaza: Kerem Shalom, connecting Gaza to Israel, is the only crossing open for the transfer of goods into and out of the Strip (apart from the tunnels) • Israel allows all goods into the Gaza Strip except for items it defines as dual-use and basic construction materials (cement and steel) • Starting in December 2012, Israel began allowing a quota of 20 truckloads of gravel to enter Gaza per day for the private sector • Egypt is also letting gravel and cement enter Gaza via Rafah Crossing for reconstruction projects funded by the Qatari government. 

Export of goods from Gaza: The ban on sale of goods from Gaza to the West Bank, in effect since June 2007, remains in place • Since March 2012, 47 truckloads of goods have exited Gaza for the West Bank: 43 truckloads of date bars for a World Food Programme project and 4 truckloads of school desks and chairs ordered by the Palestinian Authority • Negligible quantities of export have been allowed out of Gaza for sale abroad, mainly agricultural produce which exits between November and May as part of a project subsidized by the Government of the Netherlands • Between January and April 2013, approximately 22 truckloads of goods exited Gaza per month, about 2% of what exited monthly prior to 2007 • Officially, export of furniture and textiles abroad is permitted, however demand for these goods outside of the West Bank and Israel is low • In 2012, export was allowed in isolated cases to several countries, with all the goods transiting via Israeli territory.

Travel between Gaza and the West Bank: The only crossings through which people are permitted to travel to and from the Gaza Strip are Erez (to Israel) and Rafah (to Egypt) • Israel allows passage through Erez only "in exceptional humanitarian cases, with an emphasis on urgent medical cases" • In practice, during 2012 about 4,000 exits  of Palestinians were recorded per month at Erez, most of them businesspeople and medical patients and their companions.

Travel from Gaza to the outside world: Such travel takes place mostly through Egypt • Rafah Crossing is open every day • Between January and April 2013, an average of 38,400 crossed into and out of Gaza via Rafah per month • Through its control of the Palestinian population registry, Israel has indirect control over the issuance of Palestinian passports, which are required for travel through Rafah.

Access to the Gaza Strip's land, territorial waters and air space: Israel prevents all access to and from the Gaza Strip by sea and air • As a result of rocket fire from Gaza, on March 21, 2013 Israel again limited the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza to 3 nautical miles, after having extended it to 6 nautical miles in November 2012 • Israel prevents access in the buffer zone from a distance of 300 meters from the border fence.

By virtue of Israel's substantial control of the Gaza Strip, international law requires Israel to facilitate normal life in the Strip, including by allowing access for civilians and civilian goods. Alongside this obligation, Israel has the authority to decide by which routes both people and goods enter and leave Gaza and to establish reasonable and proportionate security measures to prevent the transfer of weapons and other military activity.
Accordingly, Gisha's position is that Israel must lift the sweeping restrictions that remain and allow entrance of construction materials, sale of goods to the West Bank and Israel and travel of people between Gaza and the West Bank, subject to individual security inspections. 

The opening of the Rafah Crossing by Egypt allows for a welcome improvement in Gaza residents' ability to access the outside world. However, it does not detract from Israel's obligation to allow regular travel between Gaza and the West Bank, which continue to share a single economy, a single education system, a single healthcare system and countless familial, cultural and social ties.

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