Gaza

Jerusalem / Tel Aviv (ICRC) – The Israeli authorities must take immediate measures to allow Palestinian families from Gaza to resume visits to their relatives detained in Israel, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today.

The family visits organized by the ICRC since 1967 had to be suspended on 6 June 2007 following a decision by the Israeli authorities. As a result, the parents, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers and children of more than 900 detainees have been deprived of direct contact with their detained relatives for almost one year. Detainees depend on these visits not only for psychological support but also for material assistance such as clothes and blankets.    » read more »

26 May 2008 -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has described Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip as "one of the greatest human rights crimes on Earth."

Mr. Carter was speaking Sunday at a literary festival in Wales. He told The Guardian newspaper that the Israeli blockade has led to what he calls the "imprisonment" of Gaza's 1.6 million Palestinians.

Israel and Egypt sealed their borders with Gaza after the Hamas militant group seized control of the territory last June. Israel continues to send fuel and humanitarian supplies to Gaza while blocking the regular crossing of people and goods.

Israeli leaders say the blockade is necessary to stop Gaza militants from firing rockets at Israeli towns.    » read more »

26 January 2008 -- After two years of almost complete isolation, the people of the Gaza Strip breached the iron wall along the border with Egypt, pouring over the border to seek basic supplies, receive needed health care, and some said, to "breathe a breath of freedom." Although Egypt seems poised to close the border again, most Gazans are giving Hamas credit for relieving their misery, even if the relief is temporary.    » read more »

27 January 2008 -- There was a chaotic scene Saturday at the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Egyptian security forces practically abandoned the border after clashes erputed with Palestinians on Friday when they tried to close it down. They tried instead to keep the Palestinians from leaving the border town of Rafah. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans continued to flood across into Egypt to buy food and vital supplies during an Israeli blockade that has lasted more than a week.    » read more »

25 January 2008 -- Egypt has increased security around its now open border with the Gaza Strip, as Palestinians poured into the country for a second straight day to stock up on food, fuel and household supplies.

Egyptian border guards patrolled access roads to the region Thursday, preventing Palestinians from moving beyond border-area markets. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have crossed into Egypt to visit relatives and buy goods that have been scarce since Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip last week.    » read more »

23 January 2008 -- Thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip poured into an Egyptian border town, early Wednesday, after militants blew a large hole in the border wall overnight that separates Gaza from Egypt.

A huge explosion signaled the latest development in the week-old Gaza crisis. Militants blew a large hole in the high metal wall that separates the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip from Egypt and Palestinians crossed into Egypt by the thousands.    » read more »

24 October 2007 -- The Carter Center urges the government of Israel to cease consideration of a proposal to cut energy supplies in Gaza. On Sept. 19, 2007, Israel threatened to declare the Gaza Strip a "hostile territory" and cut off provision of essential services such as electricity and fuel to the civilian population as retaliation for rocket attacks being launched from the territory. The Associated Press today reported that, according to anonymous sources, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will announce that Israel will carry out the plan beginning tomorrow.    » read more »