Amidst Israel’s continued closure and isolation of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli security authorities continue to pursue arrest and coercion at Erez crossing to extract information from Palestinians who need to move in and out of the Gaza Strip. In recent months, the Israeli authorities arrested several Palestinian patients, merchants and others who needed to cross or were applying for permits to cross. As the Egypt-Gaza crossing in Rafah remains virtually always closed due to Egyptian restrictions, Erez crossing is the only way out of the Gaza Strip.

At around 12:30 pm on Sunday, 13 December 2015, the Israeli authorities arrested Mohammed Ref’at Abu Jummiza, 28, from Deir Al Balah. He is an x-ray technician at the Al Quds Hospital and was among a delegation of medical workers who were trying to acces training. A team of 13 people from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, including nurses, doctors, and x-ray technicians from the Al Quds Hospital, were traveling via Erez crossing to attend trainings in the West Bank when the arrest took place. Abu Jummiza was supposed to attend a training course at the St. Joseph Hospital in Jerusalem.   

In their affidavits to Al Mezan, the Abu Jummiza family stated that they tried to call him at around 12:30 pm to check on him, but that his cell phone was off. In the evening hours, some of his colleagues informed them that he had been detained at Erez crossing at around 12:30 pm and at around 2:00 pm he was taken to an unknown location.

The arrest takes place at the time of increased restrictions on travel through Erez crossing, including the new condition that persons accompanying patients have to be aged 55 or above and apply for permits 7-10 days ahead of the scheduled hospital appointment. These new restrictions imply that thousands of patients will be prevented from reaching hospitals on time for their hardly obtained appointments. The patient becomes responsible for their inability to fit in the often prohibitive and strict crossing requirements; including having a valid appointment at a hospital, which often expire before permits are issued. 

While Israel, the occupying Power, has the obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, including facilitation of movement and access through Erez crossing, Rafah crossing could serve as an alternative and additional entry and exit point for humanitarian access, if it were reliably open. However, Palestinians cannot use Rafah to access Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank; including Jerusalem, due to Israeli restrictions. Since the beginning of 2015, Rafah crossing was opened for only 34 days: 8 days for pilgrims and 5 days for people trapped in Egypt, who needed to return to Gaza. A very limited numbers of people needing to travel, including patients and students, managed to travel via Rafah crossing during the partial opening.

Since the beginning of 2015, Israeli forces have arrested at least 175 Palestinians from Gaza Strip, including 33 children. Of the total figure, 43 were arrested at Erez crossing, having been summoned for security interviews or received permits to cross. The other arrests were fishermen, protestors, and people trying to infiltrate into Israel in search of work opportunities.   

Palestinians crossing through Erez are largely merchants on business and patients trying to reach urgent medical care at hospitals in the West Bank and Israel. The Israeli policies of closure and restrictive practices constitute a violation of the right to freedom of movement, and the denial or delay of medical care amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and torture. The violations are part and parcel of Israel’s policy of closure and siege of Gaza Strip, which amounts to a form of collective punishment, in violation of international law.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns these practices and calls for the international community to uphold its obligations under international law, and oblige Israel to respect international legal principles including the complete prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The closure of Gaza, as a mechanism that violates both human rights law and international humanitarian law, must be lifted without delay. Accountability for violations of international law and access to justice for victims is paramount to breaking the cycle of violations.  

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