From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Gaza open to aid and essential goods
A Defense Ministry spokesman says Israel is allowing “all humanitarian aid and essential goods to travel freely into Gaza.”
Nonessential items such as TVs are not being allowed to pass into the Strip, he says.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Jonathan Mosery says that he spoke with the commanders of both the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings and can confirm that at Kerem Shalom alone 180 trucks of merchandise have passed through on Tuesday. He says the situation at the Erez Crossing is similar.
Additionally, the Defense Ministry says the Kerem Shalom crossing is closed to people, aside from journalists, who can cross with advance coordination.
The ministry’s statements came in response to an earlier report by Gisha, a left-wing NGO, that said Israel has restricted the transfer of goods to and from Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing for the third day, limiting it to medicine, food items, fruits, vegetables, and fuel while disallowing clothes, shoes and paper items.
Gisha also reports that the IDF has limited fishing off the coast of Gaza since Sunday to three nautical miles, instead of the usual six.
“There is no doubt that it is unfair, unwise and illegal to [enact revenge] on a governmental scale and cause harm to millions of people. The use of restrictions on the movement of people and goods as a pressure mechanism, especially toward a population which is in a difficult financial situation to begin with, is inconceivable and also illegal under international law,” reads the Gisha report.
“Israel can and should act to protect the security of its citizens, but at the same time, it must refrain from harming citizens in a way that is unnecessary or beyond what is necessary to achieve this goal. Operations that harm the civil population of Gaza without reason or moderation are illegal under international law,” says Gisha director Eitan Diamond.
