The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) declared that Gaza border crossing would be closed on 26 and 27 August 2008.
The crossings have been operating partially since the declaration of a truce on 19 June 2008.
This closure comes in the midst IOF's tight blockade of the Strip that inflicts severe harm to civilians' wellbeing and humanitarian needs.
While the IOF continues its unlawful collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza, the international community failure to support its proclaimed values or fulfill its legal and ethical obligations towards the one-and-a-half million civilians in the Gaza Strip has also continued.
Not only the IOF closes the crossings that link Gaza with Israel and the West Bank, but also those linking it with the outer world.
It continues to seal off the Strip's airspace and prohibit the running Gaza's airport and the construction of its seaport; diligently undermining different economic sectors.
This is added to the dire implications on service sectors such as health and education; which makes the siege one of the worst forms of collective punishment in modern history.
The IOF attempts to delude the international community by partial opening of Gaza's crossings, which has had no significant effect on alleviating the suffering of civilians and their minimum humanitarian needs.
The Israeli blockade has caused severe disturbance in all aspects of the Gazans' life for years by hindering their ability to move within the Strip, which is exacerbated by depriving them from free movement in and out of Gaza.
The IOF does not show care for the life of hundreds of patients whose lives are slowly wasted because of a siege that averts their ability to access hospitals outside Gaza to receive treatment for complex medical conditions that cannot be treated in Gaza.
The conditions of the local health sector are also exacerbating under the siege because of severe shortage of equipment, drugs, and medical supplies.
According to Al Mezan's monitoring of the Israeli movement restrictions at Gaza's crossings, the slight developments resulting from partial openings have had no significant impact on the economic stability or ensuring the basic needs of Gazans.
Crossings have been predominantly closed during the first eight months of 2008, as the Center's information below shows: Erez Crossing: completely closed for 36 days and open for 143 days, but only for humanitarian cases.
Karni Crossing: closed for 225 days and partially open for the rest of days.
Sufa Crossing: closed for 108 days and partially open for the rest of days.
Kerem Shalom Crossing: closed for 163 days.
Rafah Terminal: closed for 161 days and partially open for 49 days; including 4 days in one direction and for 6 days for humanitarian cases.
Nahal Oz Crossing: closed for 80 days and partially open for the rest of days.
During this period, the IOF allowed only 25% of Gaza people's needs to enter the Strip.
There has been especially a shortage in cooking gas and gasoline.
The IOF also allowed in amounts of fuel that maintained the electricity crisis in Gaza because the power plant did not receive enough fuel to produce sufficient power.
The IOF also restricted the entry of supplies and raw materials necessary for industry and agriculture.
The negative impacts of the siege on Gazans have been doubled at the start of the new school year.
There is severe shortage in stationery, school bags and uniforms in Gaza.
And the transportation sector’s crisis continues; forcing pupils to walk for long distances to reach schools.
And with the month of Ramadan at the doors, many households continue to be scattered as a result of the siege.
Al Mezan Center strongly condemns the IOF siege of Gaza.
It asserts that this conduct represents a form of unlawful collective punishment, which represents a war crime according to the provisions of International Humanitarian Law; particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the protection of Civilian persons in Times of War, which provides for an absolute prohibition of collective punishment.
Al Mezan highly commends the Free Gaza initiative to break the Gaza siege.
The Center views it as an expression of the living collective human conscience; a step that exposes the complicity-by-silence position of the international community, which continuously fails to fulfill its legal and ethical obligations towards civilians in Gaza.
A group of freedom supporters with little resources managed to show that ending the unlawful siege of Gaza is actually possible.
As such, Al Mezan calls on the international community to end its continued inaction and take immediate actions to lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and provide international protection for civilians in a step towards ending the prolonged Israeli occupation of the Palestinian occupied territories.
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