12-22-2006, 04:16 AM
PCHR: "Border crossing agreement, another year of suffering"
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - Wednesday, 20 December 2006, 17:41
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza published a report entitled "Crossings Agreement - Another Year of Suffering", in which the center conducted a study on the effects of restrictions and limitations imposed by Israel on the movement and lives of the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The report also surveys the economic and social life of the Palestinian people, facing daily hardships and obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation.
The PCHR report revealed that one year after the Crossing Agreement was reached, Israel continued its restrictions on the movement of the Palestinian people limiting their movement between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The closure of crossings, weather border terminals, trade crossings, and checkpoints restricted the movement of the residents and barred them from receiving the needed educational, medical and social services, in addition to isolating them from each other and from the rest of the world.
Health services in Palestine had sharply deteriorated as a result of the closure and continuous Israeli attacks and policies.
The Israeli procedures also included imposing collective punishment on the people, as the army escalated its attacks and shelling and have barred the access of goods and medicine into the Gaza Strip.
The PCHR stated that the Israeli policies, especially the social and economical strangulation of Palestine caused a sharp deterioration of the social and economical conditions of the people, and prohibited the residents from having access to work.
Children, as well as most of the residents, have not been receiving the needed medical care and attention especially since Israel stepped-up its policies against the people, which barred the residents from having access to the needed medications and equipment, especially the people who have chronic diseases.
Unemployment level in the Gaza Strip reached 44%, and jumped to 55% after Israel increased the restrictions it imposes on the residents, especially the increasing closures.
Poverty level in the Gaza Strip were at 64% before the agreement was signed last year, now poverty level is 73%.
The income of the residents has sharply deteriorated over the last three years, and it has dropped from 32% to 45%, as the Israeli policies affected all aspects on the Palestinian life, especially the health, industrial, trade and transportation sectors.
One year after the agreement was signed, the movement of people and goods remained restricted, and the articles regarding the development of the Palestinian economy remained on the shelf.
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/23306/1/