Israeli Military Restrictions

In the past months, it has become increasingly difficult for humanitarian and development agencies to operate in The West Bank and Gaza, to carry out their work effectively because of an intensification of unprecedented Israeli military restrictions on humanitarian access to the civilian population affected by the conflict.

Throughout the current crisis; closure, defined as movement restrictions for goods and people along the borders of the West Bank and Gaza as well as within the West Bank and Gaza, has had disastrous effects on the Palestinian population and economy.

 

Closure System: Pre Operation Defensive Shield (Old System) and Post Operation Defensive Shield (New System)

In the wake of Operation Defensive Shield, the IDF has intensified its closure regime inside the West Bank and Gaza and is preparing the establishment of a ‘Security Fence’ along large parts of the border between the West Bank and Israel proper.

 

Closure systems compared
	Old system	New system (Post Operation Defensive Shield)
For Palestinians (including Palestinian staff of donor organizations):
1	Permits required for travel between West Bank and Jerusalem/Israel	No travel between West Bank and Jerusalem/Israel Exceptions: §          WB to Israel: limited number of vital staff members after security clearance §          Israel to WB: total of 20 drivers with Israeli ID will be given permit for travel to WB.
2	No permits required for travel within the West Bank (movement was restricted but possible)	Permits required for travel within the West Bank
3	Free movement for Palestinians within the Gaza strip (although at times restricted at major checkpoints)	Movement for Palestinians across major checkpoints only if accompanied by International (maximum of three in car with one International staff member)
4	Back-to-back system in place, in limited form and few locations and only for transport of goods across the Green Line	Full implementation of back-to-back system for transport of goods across the Green Line as well as between cities in the West Bank
For donor organizations:
5	Humanitarian and project goods transported to Gaza through Karni without prior coordination	Only humanitarian goods allowed through Karni, project related goods allowed on a case by case basis and after prior consultation
6	Transport of goods to West Bank allowed but at times restricted at checkpoints	Transport of goods to West Bank allowed only in trucks with white plates and driven by international drivers.

 

Concerns of Donor and UN Organizations

Donor and UN concerns are three-folds:

 

1)     The operational capacity is diminished.

2)     Donor support is forced to shift to relief and away from development.

3)     The positive effects of past assistance will be negated.

 

As a result of these new measures, travel between cities and often also between villages and nearby cities has declined significantly and the ability of the UN organizations as well as other donors and NGOs to provide services and continue ongoing programs and projects has been severely hindered.

(Source: UNSCO article “A Brief History of Closure During The Second Intifada” Email address: UNSCO@planet.com; Tel: +972-8-2843555 Special Coordinator: Terje Rod-Larsen).

Firings on and Delays of Ambulances

12 September 2002 – (9:10pm): In Tulkarm, in the Northern West Bank, an Israeli army tank fired teargas bombs at a PRCS Emergency Medical Services (EMS) station. Two medics and a patient case (female child) receiving treatment at the station were overcome by the tear gas.

16 September 2002 – (11:45pm): In Nablus, in the Northern West Bank, an Israeli army tank fired at a PRCS ambulance dispatched on a routine call to assist a woman patient in Sadit Al-Maslakh (Nablus area). One of the medics suffered shock and the ambulance sustained damage.

PRCS reports that the needless delays of their ambulance services at checkpoints continue to endanger Palestinians in need of emergency medical help. During last week a total of 9 ambulances were needlessly delayed by the IDF at the checkpoints the delays varied from 30 minutes to 2 ½ hours. In addition 1 ambulance was denied passage at the checkpoint in Huwwara.

 

(Source: Palestinian Red Crescent Society +972 2 240 6515/6/7
E-mail: pressoffice@palestinercs.org; President: Younis al-Khatib).

 

Humanitarian Access

The tightened closure/curfews regime in the West Bank and Gaza created additional difficulties for relief agencies delivering emergency assistance to the needy.

 

Particularly affected were the UNWRA operations that suffered delays and disruptions. UNWRA’s distribution team and accompanying trucks were refused entry to Tulkarm after a two-hour delay. Al-Amari Camp and Hebron Health Centeres did not operate due to curfews. UNWRA staff members reported difficulties entering and leaving Ramallah via the northern Beit El checkpoint. On Monday 10 September, a UNWRA distribution team was denied entrance to Jenin as the City was under a strict closure.

 

Relief efforts

On 18 September the IDF fired warning shots in the direction of the Commissioner General UNWRA Peter Hansen and a delegation including several donor country representatives and Palestinian officials visiting the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza.

 

Humanitarian access

UNRWA continued to report needless delays of its staff members and vehicles at IDF checkpoints. 17 September UNRWA vehicles and staff on their way from Nablus to Balata & Askar refugee camp were delayed for more than one hour

 

UNWRA reports that due to curfews the health clinic of the Amari refugee camp (Ramallah) operates intermittently during the reporting period, thus severely reducing the access to health services for the 5000 inhabitants of the camp.

 

Health

Catherine Bertini, who is Secretary-General Kofi Annan's personal humanitarian envoy in the Middle East, visited the region from Aug. 12-19. In a report released Wednesday, 4^th of September, she concluded that "a serious and mounting humanitarian crisis is occurring in the West Bank and Gaza.''

The report said that international and Palestinian aid organizations have faced increasing obstacles in delivering food and humanitarian supplies including permit requirements, blockades at borders and checkpoints, restrictions on Palestinian trucks, and denial of aid imports.

"One concern that was raised consistently by agencies and donors is a wide gap between official Israeli policy regarding international assistance activities and its implementation on the ground,'' Bertini said.

Food

 

On August 5, 2002, CARE International, an NGO funded primarily by USAID, released preliminary findings from several surveys focusing on the health and nutritional status of the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank.   The preliminary findings indicate an increase in the number of malnourished children with 22.5 percent of children under 5 suffering from acute (9.3 percent) or chronic (13.2 percent) malnutrition. The preliminary rates are particularly high in Gaza with the survey showing 13.2 percent of children suffering from acute malnutrition, putting them on par with children in countries such as Nigeria and Chad.  At their press conference, the CARE researchers said that in any other country such high rates of malnutrition would be labeled a ‘humanitarian emergency’. A primary cause of this situation is the inaccessibility and restriction of movement experienced by the Palestinian population at large.

 

Fishermen in Gaza

 

The situation of fish farmers in Rafah and Khan Younis remains critical as the Israeli army continued to enforce a two-month long total ban on fishing in the Mediterranean. Recently the restrictions on the fishermen’s activities were tightened to prevent them from accessing the harbor. According to the report of Catherine Bertini, the Secretary-General Kofi Annan's personal humanitarian envoy in the Middle East, Israel had agreed to fully implementing a 12 mile (20 kilometer) fishing zone off the Gaza coast. What this means to the Gaza fishermen who support families of an average of 7 members per family remains to be seen.

 

Opening of the academic year at Birzeit University Delayed.

September 25, 2002

 

Tuesday, September 17, 2002 was to herald the first day of the first semester of the 2002/2003 academic year. And while great strides have been made to get the semester off to a strong start, the ongoing Israeli occupation’s policies of closures and curfews are once again delaying the start of a new academic year at Birzeit University.

 

(Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) www.reliefweb.int; OCHA Weekly Humanitarian Update Occupied Palestinian Territories 10 Sept – 25 September 2002).

 

 

 

Opportunities for supporting Palestinian communities through the Advance:

You may contribute to the support of the Palestinian communities  by making a donation. Checks may be written to 'Advance GCFA' and placed in collection plates at United Methodist churches, or mailed directly to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. Please note on your check that it is for specific fund listed below. Credit card donations may be made by calling (888) 252-6174.

 

#014238-7RA      Jerusalem Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children, Jerusalem

#012018-6RA       Hope Secondary School, Beit Jala, Palestine

#601740   UMCOR Middle East Emergency

 

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