Increase in Gaza’s unemployment rate in 2019
March 5, 2020. In 2019, Gaza’s unemployment rate averaged 45.1% compared to 43.1% in 2018. The gap between the unemployment rate in Gaza and the West Bank remains staggering; Gaza’s rate is more than triple that of the West Bank. Read More »

Gaza’s crossings return to normal operations; access to “fishing zone” restored
February 24-27, 2020. After three days in which Israel closed Erez Crossing to exit from Gaza and two days of limiting transfer of goods via Kerem Shalom, the crossings have returned to normal operations. Read more >> Read More »

Easing, punishment, easings, repeat.
February 23, 2020. On Tuesday, February 18, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced an increase in permits for Gaza traders to 7,000 permits. It’s never quite that simple. Read More »

Collective punishment continues
February 18, 2020. Israel continues to collectively punish Gaza residents. On Saturday, COGAT again announced that “civilian measures” that it had planned to implement were cancelled as punishment for rocket fire launched from the Strip. Read More »

Israel reduces Gaza’s “fishing zone” again in act of collective punishment
February 6, 2020. Yesterday COGAT announced that as of 16:00 that day, fishermen’s access to Gaza’s sea space would be limited to a distance of up to ten nautical miles. Read More »

Israel announces a freeze to all “easings”
February 3, 2020. The decision to freeze the implementation of the various measures, accompanied by the portrayal of these measures as “easings” or “gestures,” is a familiar pattern of collective punishment. Read More »

Gisha’s statement on the Middle East Peace Plan
January 29, 2020. The “peace plan” presented yesterday in Washington D.C. aims to make permanent a reality of fragmentation, isolation and division in the occupied Palestinian territory. Further entrenching the dispossession of Palestinians and perpetuating the occupation is a recipe for ongoing conflict, not peace. Read More »

Severe damage to crops in Gaza following aerial herbicide spraying by Israel
January 28, 2020. Aerial spraying conducted between January 14 and 16 has damaged crops as far as one kilometer away from Gaza’s perimeter fence, causing serious financial losses for farmers in the Strip. Read More »

Israel resumes aerial herbicide spraying along Gaza’s perimeter fence; Gisha, Adalah and Al Mezan demand an immediate halt to the destructive measure
On January 16, human rights organizations Gisha, Adalah and Al Mezan sent a letter with an urgent demand to refrain from conducting further aerial spraying of herbicides inside and near the Gaza Strip, due to the severe damage to crops and the health risks to Gaza residents. Read More »

Gaza Strip Map
January 9, 2020. A new and updated map published by Gisha emphasizes the spatial dimensions of Israel’s ongoing control over Gaza, and the means by which Israel denies movement of people and goods. The map includes data and background on the crossing points with Israel and Egypt, the “fishing zone” enforced by Israel in Gaza’s territorial waters, and the “buffer zone” it imposes along the barrier separating Gaza from Israel. Read More »

Israel reverses latest punitive reduction of Gaza’s fishing zone, but the frequent, arbitrary changes continue to harm Gaza’s fishermen
December 30, 2019. On December 24, Israel restored the fishing zone to its previous demarcation, up to a maximal distance of 15 nautical miles off shore in a southern section of the Strip. Read More »

COGAT’s Christmas Flip-flop
December 23, 2019. Just three days ahead of Christmas, after weeks of uncertainty and contradictory responses, COGAT announced Israel will issue permits for Gaza Christians to travel to the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Read More »

Israel reduces Gaza’s fishing zone as punitive measure
December 19, 2019. COGAT announced this morning that the fishing zone enforced by Israel off Gaza’s coast would again be reduced from 15 to 10 nautical miles “until further notice.” Read More »