The purpose of this article is to evaluate the systemic discrimination of the Palestinian people within the Gaza Strip by Israeli authorities as people entitled to human rights in accordance with UDCHR.
The Israel-Palestine conflict has recently received vast media attention, but infringements on the rights of the Palestinian people by Israeli Authorities long precedes 2021. In fact, 2020 marked the 13th consecutive year that Israeli authorities enforced a travel ban on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and additional restrictions on the free movement of goods. Restrictions to the freedom of movement have affected the nearly two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, with basic needs such as access to electricity and water similarly restricted and posing independent economic growth almost impossible.
The restrictions grew more sinister in the height of the COVID-19 crisis. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that Israeli authorities failed to respond in an adequate time frame to 54% of travel permit applications made by Palestinians with scheduled urgent medical cart appointments; a potentially fatal delay. Furthermore, WHO also found that in September 2020 there was less than one month’s worth of essential medicines in stock at Gaza’s Central Drug Store. It is hard to comprehend how restrictions imposing such clear violations of fundamental human rights have received such little media exposure. To evaluate international accountability, it is worth noting that Egypt also enforces these restrictions at its border in Rafah.
BLOCKADE OF THE GAZA STRIP
A 2007 UN report found the occupation of Gaza to be a form of collective punishment imposed upon an entire population and the blockade contrary to international law.
In 2008-2009, 2012, and 2014, three escalations of violence between Israel and Gaza killed approximately 2,500 Palestinian civilians, resulted in tens of thousands of injuries, displaced hundreds of thousands, and inflicted extensive damage to Gaza’s infrastructure. Aside from the obvious devastating consequences of the violence, when it came time for Gaza to return to some semblance of normality, the population could not seamlessly import reconstruction materials. The issue here was restrictions on materials that enter Gaza imposed by Israel, which limited or banned the importation of necessary reconstruction items such as concrete, wood, and other building materials, resulting in the efforts to rebuild becoming slow, complex, and costly for a population that has already suffered economically from the turmoil.
In 2016, the UN reported that only 45 per cent of Gaza’s energy needs were met, causing between 16 and 18 hours of daily power cuts, just 70 per cent of Gaza’s population only had piped water supplies for between six and eight hours, every two to four day. I highlight these statistics as although the conflict itself was halted at this point, the conflict’s ramifications continued and still continue to plague the population of Gaza rendering it nearly impossible for the Palestinian people of Gaza to return to a normal life.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The debilitating effect of the blockade was again highlighted in 2015, with The World Bank reviewing what it called “the staggering cost of violence and blockade on Gaza’s economy and living standards,” reporting on the levels of unemployment and poverty, stating that the approximately 70 percent of Palestinians who work in the shrunken private sector in Gaza earn an average monthly salary of $174, less than the legal minimum wage of around $400.
This is a shocking figure, calling into question if Gaza will ever be a sustainable place for the Palestinian people to live while the blockage is enforced. The review found that Gaza’s GDP between 2007 and 2012 would have been 51 per cent higher had it not been for the combined effects of the blockade and armed conflict, creating a direct link between the Israeli blockade and the economic devastation.
The depleted economy has resulted in widespread social anguish for Palestinian people in Gaza. The World Bank reported in May 2015 that “the quality of life for the large majority of Gaza’s citizens is hardly bearable,” reinforcing the brutal nature of the restrictions that persist even in the absence of explicit violence.
The continued violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, at the hands of Israeli authorities, without substantial international interference is shocking. The recent conflict has garnered a vast amount of attention on social media, but is it difficult to ascertain the impact of such recognition on the continuing conflict.
Imogen is an aspiring barrister with a particular interest in human rights and international law. She is currently pursuing her bachelors legal degree from Dublin City University.