Israel denying human rights workers access to Gaza

Rights group says Israel is blocking access for researchers to Gaza, compromising efforts to document violations.

Israel has been barring entry to and from the besieged Gaza
Strip for human rights workers and researchers, according to
a new report by international rights organisation, Human
Rights Watch (HRW).

In the report, titled "Unwilling or Unable: Israel Restrictions on
Travel to and from Gaza for Human Rights Workers", the US-
based organisation expressed concerns over the restriction of
entry to human rights workers who require access to the strip
in order to investigate possible crimes committed during the
2014 Israeli assault on Gaza.

"For the last two decades, Israel has kept the strip mostly
closed off," with exceptions for humanitarian
circumstances, Sari Bashi, Israel and Palestine advocacy
director at HRW.

Bashi added that last year Israel allowed about 12,000 entries
from the Gaza Strip to the occupied West Bank and Israel, but
"categorically denies that access to Palestinian and foreign
human rights workers" who want to document abuses on the
ground in Gaza.

The report also calls into question the Israeli military's
claim to rely on human rights organisations as a vital source
of data for their investigations into potential crimes and rights
violations committed during the war. HRW said such
restrictions on entry" raises questions not just about the
willingness of Israel's military authorities to conduct genuine
investigations, but also their ability to do so."

"Those restrictions affect nearly every aspect of life in Gaza,
including the ability of human rights workers to document
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law
(IHL) and to advocate for their remediation," the report said.

According to the report, Israel systematically denies access
to HRW workers and researchers, and has been doing so ever
since it imposed a siege on the strip in 2008.

Gaza, whose population amounts to two million, has been
under a decade-long blockade imposed by Israel following the
2007 electoral victory of the Hamas movement in the strip.

Gaza shares border crossings with Israel, as well as Egypt.
The Rafah crossing, bordering Egypt's northern Sinai is also
predominantly blocked by Egyptian authorities, allowing limited
access for humanitarian reasons.

Asked how many workers were denied entry during the
previous years, Bashi said, "It is easier to say how many were
allowed in." According to Bashi, only one HRW staff
researcher was allowed entry in 2011, to document violations
of human rights against Israel.

Along with Israel, the report casts the blame on Hamas and
neighbouring Egypt, but says the main responsibility lies with
Israel as the main controller of the strip's borders. Israel
maintains sole control over Gaza's territorial waters and
airspace.

The International Criminal Court ( ICC ) prosecutor's ongoing
investigation into violations of international human rights law
includes analysing whether crimes falling under ICC jurisdiction
have been committed, the group said.

But the Israeli authorities claim that their investigations meet
international standards and that they rely on human rights
organisations to notify them of potential violations.


A spokesperson for the Coordination of Government Activities
in the Territories (COGAT), an Israeli military unit that is
responsible for civilian matters in the occupied territories, told
Al Jazeera that Israeli authorities allow "Gaza residents,
internationals and Israelis pass through Erez Crossing into the
Gaza Strip and from it on a daily basis".

"The Coordination and Liaison Administration to the Gaza Strip
(CLA) coordinates over 1,000 crossing daily for trade and
business purposes, medical treatment, academic studies
abroad, participation in conventions and advanced studies and
more," the spokesperson said, via email, citing coordination
with "many human rights organisations" such as Doctors
Without Borders, and others.

But local human rights activists say otherwise. Samir Zaqout,
director of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Gaza-based
human rights organisation, told Al Jazeera that tens of foreign
workers have been denied entry into the strip, describing the
act as a "violation of human rights".

"The restriction is not only imposed on human rights workers,
but also on university representatives, journalists, and
academics alike," he said, adding that they, along with other
local organisations, are in constant and dire need of expert
assistance.

"The strict conditions and restrictions are compromising our
efforts as a human rights organisation to document abuses
on the ground adequately," Zaqout said. "We cannot even
think about applying for permits to bring foreign workers in,
we are not even allowed to start the process."

The strip's northern Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing with Israel,
said Zaqout, is controlled by Israel and does not permit entry
to foreign journalists and activists either.

Zaqout explained that as one of the most important conflict
areas in the world, foreign students who want to work with
organisations such as Al Mezan in Gaza, are also barred from
entering the strip.

"Israel is scared to grant these entry permissions. Everyone,
who ever came to Gaza, regardless of their background,
witnesses the struggle and the reality of the people in Gaza,"
he said.

Since the siege, Gaza has witnessed three Israeli wars in the
past 10 years, experiencing food, water, and power
shortages. The enclave has been dubbed the world's largest
open-air prison.

Israel has also blocked human rights workers and activists
from entering the occupied West Bank and Israel. In March,
the Israeli parliament passed a bill allowing border officials to
turn away foreigners who support the global Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

One of the movement's founders, Omar Barghouti, was
arrested by Israeli authorities on suspicion of tax evasion last
month. In a statement issued two days ago, Barghouthi said
the arrest is an attempt to "tarnish" his reputation. BDS said
that there has been an ongoing campaign to silence the
movement.

Also last month, Hugh Lanning, head of the UK-based
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was denied entry into Israel.
Bahjat el-Helou of the Independent Commission for Human
Rights, a national rights institution in Palestine, said
that over a span of 10 years, the commission has rarely been
able to bring human rights workers in.

"In the last year or so, we managed to bring two experts for
three days, which is not enough. We're suffering hugely from a
lack of development, our skills need improvement through
training workshops, we cannot advance without them and
need the expert help from abroad," he said from his office in
Gaza.

"We have a lack of training opportunities. As a national
commission, we don't only document Israeli violations, but
also the local authorities' activities," he added.

Helou said that the commission's workers aren't able to visit
the occupied West Bank office either, as an alternative to
bringing experts into the strip. Additionally, they do not sit in
on collective human rights sessions that take place in the
West Bank.

"Our contribution and participation is significant as a national
commission for human rights," he explained. "We're positive
of our colleagues' abilities in the West Bank, but we are the
ones who live the struggle [in the strip]."

"There is no one who can tell the story better than us," he
said.