Palestinian freedom of movement - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The restriction of the movement of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories

Israeli-occupied territories

The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...

by the Israeli government is an issue in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. According to B'Tselem

B'Tselem

B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...

, following the 1967 war, the Occupied Territories were proclaimed closed military zones. In 1972, general exit orders were issued allowing residents of those territories to move freely between the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

and Gaza

Gaza

Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...

. In 1991, these general exit orders were revoked, and personal exit permits were required. According to B'Tselem, a measure of overall closure of the Occupied Territories was enacted for the first time in 1993, and would result in total closures following rises in Palestinian political violence

Palestinian political violence

Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence undertaken to further the Palestinian cause. These political objectives include self-determination in and sovereignty over Palestine, the liberation of Palestine and establishment of a Palestinian state, either in place of both Israel and...

.

In the mid-1990s, with the implementation of the Oslo Accords

Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...

and the division of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into three separate administrative divisions

Administrative divisions of the Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords created three temporary distinct administrative divisions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until a final status accord would be established...

, there was little change to these restrictions. Comprehenesive closures during the Second Intifada resulted in complete prohibitions on Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

movement into Israel and between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the situation remains the same today. Israel says that the regime of restrictions is necessary to protect Israelis living in Israel and the Israeli settlements.

Israel enforces restrictions on Palestinians freedom of movement in the West Bank by employing a system of permanent, temporary and random manned checkpoints, the West Bank Barrier and by forbidding the usage of roads by Palestinians. A 2007 World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

report concluded that the West Bank "is experiencing severe and expanding restrictions on movement and access, high levels of unpredictability and a struggling economy." Unmanned physical obstructions to block roads and paths might include dirt piles, concrete blocks, large stones, barriers, ditches, and metal gates. The physical obstructions might be altered often, on the basis of political and security circumstances.

According to Israeli authorities, during 2008-2009, a significant amount of checkpoints were removed; as of July 2009, Israeli authorities report that 27 checkpoints and 140 roadblocks have been removed in aim to ease security restrictions in the West Bank. An additional 140 roadblocks that were opened to traffic in 2008. As of 2009, there are 504 dirt roadblocks and 14 checkpoints remaining in the West Bank.

History

Subsequent to the 1967 Six-Day War

Six-Day War

The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

, Israel's military proclaimed the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

to be closed military areas. In 1972, general exit orders were issued allowing residents of the Occupied Territories to freely leave, and travel between the Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

and the West Bank

West Bank

. Palestinians were also allowed to travel to Israel; this order applied to East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...

, annexed to Israel but internationally recognized as occupied Palestinian territory. Palestinians were not allowed to be in Israel between 1.00 and 5.00 a.m. These exit orders were restricted for the first time in June 1989, shortly after the First Intifada

First Intifada

The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....

broke out.

In 1991, during the Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, the general exit orders were revoked and a new policy requiring each resident to obtain a personal exit permit to enter Israel was enacted. At first, most Palestinians could continue to enter Israel routinely since Israel issued many permits for relatively long periods. Gradually, however, Israel's permit policy became more and more strict.

The overall closure policy was imposed as an administrative measure by Israel for the first time in March 1993, as a result of the killing of nine Israeli civilians and six security forces personnel by Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories. It has become a regular feature of Palestinian life influencing freedom of movement and the Palestinian economy. Israel claimed the closures provide security for Israelis and curtail Palestinian political violence. Amal Jamal, professor of political science at Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...

says that the policy was used as "a political weapon to force Palestinians into accepting short-term economic improvements over long-term territorial and political solutions."

In September 2000, the Second Intifada began, triggering Israeli closures and restrictions on Palestinian movement. In 2005, Israelis of the Gush Katif

Gush Katif

Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza strip. Gush Katif was specifically mentioned by Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who fell victim to an assassin in 1995, as essential to Israel's security border. In August 2005, the Israeli army moved the 8,600...

Israeli settlements were evacuated as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...

. In 2007, Hamas

Hamas

Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

took over the Gaza Strip, after which Israel and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

largely sealed their borders. Israel further tightened its blockade after Hamas began firing rockets

Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel

Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip have occurred since 2001. Between 2001 and January 2009, over 8,600 rockets had been launched, leading to 28 deaths and several hundred injuries, as well as widespread psychological trauma and disruption of daily life.The weapons,...

into Israel. According to B'tselem, the Gaza Strip has been blockaded since 2007, restricting the movement of inhabitants into Israel and to other parts of the Palestinian territories.

Both the 1994 Oslo Accords

Oslo Accords

and the 2003 Road Map for Peace

Road map for peace

The roadmap for peace or "road map" for peace is a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by a "quartet" of international entities: the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations. The principles of the plan, originally drafted by U.S. Foreign Service...

were based on the principle that Palestinian economic and social life would be unimpeded by movement restrictions. According to B'tselem, Israel's current restrictions on Palestinian movement, implemented since the beginning of the Second Intifada, are the strictest so far implemented by the state.

Ease of restrictions in 2008-2009

The IDF has stated that during 2008, it has removed the crossing joins, 140 roadblocks and eight central checkpoints "in an effort to improve freedom of movement for the civilian Palestinian population in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley".

As of July 2009, Israeli authorities report that an additional 27 checkpoints and 140 roadblocks have been removed. 1500 permits have been issued to Palestinian public officials, allowing them to pass freely through the Israeli crossings into Israel. According to these sources, in the West Bank there are 504 remaining dirt roadblocks and 14 checkpoints.

Legality of restrictions

The right to freedom of movement within states is recognized in article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly

United Nations General Assembly

For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

in 1948.

B'Tselem

B'Tselem

B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...

has argued that the consequences of the restrictions on the economic status Palestinian population have been so severe that they breach the rights guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from January 3, 1976...

-- in particular, the right to a livelihood, the right to an acceptable standard of living, the right to satisfactory nutrition, clothing, and housing, and the right to attain the best standard of physical and mental health.

B'Tselem also argues that the restrictions on ill, wounded and pregnant Palestinians seeking acute medical care is in contravention of international law that states that medical professionals and the sick must be granted open passage.

John Dugard

John Dugard

John Dugard is a South African professor of international law. He has served as Judge ad hoc on the International Court of Justice and as a Special Rapporteur for both the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the International Law Commission...

argues that "Restrictions on freedom of movement imposed by a rigid permit system enforced by some 520 checkpoints and roadblocks resemble, but in severity go well beyond, apartheid's 'pass system

Pass laws

Pass laws in South Africa were designed to segregate the population and limit severely the movements of the non-white populace. This legislation was one of the dominant features of the country's apartheid system. The Black population were required to carry these pass books with them when outside...

.'"

Inside Palestinian territory

Most of the checkpoints are inside Palestinian territory and are used by Israel to control the internal movements of Palestinians with the stated aim of enhancing the security of Israelis and preventing those who wish to do harm from crossing. As of 31 August 2009, according to B'Tselem, the Israeli army had 60 permanent checkpoints inside the West Bank, 18 of them in the city of Hebron

Hebron

Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...

. According to B'Tselem, 28 are regularly staffed - some around the clock, some only during the day, and some only a few hours a day. According to B'Tselem, permanent checkpoints form the most severe restriction on movement of Palestinians, who are subjected to checks that often cause prolonged delays and at some checkpoints, soldiers ban every Palestinian from going through except those who carry special permits.

The army announced in 2007 that it would lift the restrictions on Palestinians entering the Jordan Valley

Jordan Valley (Middle East)

The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. It is 120 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, where it runs from Lake Tiberias in the north to northern Dead Sea in the south. It runs for an additional 155 kilometer south of the Dead Sea to Aqaba, an area also known as Wadi...

. However in practice, according to B'Tselem, by August 2009 there were still checkpoints restricting entry into the valley and requiring special permits.

Many checkpoints only allow the passage of Palestinians who meet certain gender and age-based criteria. Figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), state that there has been an average of 65 random checkpoint

Random checkpoint

A random checkpoint is a military and police tactic involving the set up of a hasty roadblock primarily by mobile truck-mounted infantry or police units in order to disrupt unauthorized or unwanted movement and/or military activity.Random checkpoints are set up to achieve surprise, as opposed to...

s in the West Bank each week between September 2008 and the end of March 2009.

Between Israeli and Palestinian territory

There are 39 of these checkpoints that are permanent, manned and operate 24 hours a day and serve as the last control points between the West Bank

West Bank

and Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Although only land within the Green Line

Green Line (Israel)

Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...

is administered as part of the State of Israel, according to B'tselem, most of these checkpoints are positioned within the West Bank, often kilometers from the Green Line.

There are 63 gates in the West Bank barrier, of which half are available for Palestinian use; however, Palestinians are required to have a permit to cross. According to B'tselem, the gates for Palestinians are open for a few hours each day.

Misbehaviour of personnel manning checkpoints

See also IDF: Code of Conduct against militants and Palestinian civilians.

The Israel Defense Forces

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

' Judge Advocate General

Judge Advocate General

In the United Kingdom, the Judge Advocate General and Judge Martial of all the Forces is a judge responsible for the court martial process within the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.-Qualifications:...

, Maj. Gen. Dr. Menachem Finkelstein released a statement to the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

Constitution, Justice and Law Committee in which he reported that there were many complaints about the troops manning the checkpoints abusing and humiliating Palestinians. He said that the excessive number of complaints "lit a red light". He said that the number of complaints required an examination to see whether the misbehavior was being caused by an excessive workload of the IDF soldiers manning the checkpoints.

An Israeli soldier was removed from duty and imprisoned for two weeks for refusing the passage of a pregnant Palestinian woman in labour. The woman was forced to give birth at the checkpoint and she suffered a miscarriage.

Forbidden roads

According to B'Tselem, Israel has shut off access roads to main roads with a number of physical obstructions, such as dirt piles, concrete blocks, large stones, barriers, ditches, and metal gates. The physical obstructions are altered often, on the basis of political and security circumstances; in 2007, there were 459 obstacles placed a month. These physical obstructions are not as flexible as manned checkpoints because they cannot be removed in times of emergency. As well as preventing vehicles from travelling they also prevent pedestrians who cannot travel over or around them such as the old, young, ill, wounded or pregnant women.

Like Israelis, Palestinians who are caught committing a traffic violation on a West Bank road must pay the traffic fine at an Israeli post office or a police station. However, in the West Bank the only such post offices and police stations are within Israeli settlements, and Palestinians must obtain a permit to enter them. If Palestinians fail to pay the fine, they lose their licenses the next time they are stopped by Israeli police. They also get a criminal record, which makes it even harder to get an Israeli entry permit.

B'Tselem has counted some 312 kilometers of road in the West Bank that is forbidden or restricted to cars with Palestinian number plates.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice said in reaction to a B'Tselem report that the roadblocks were put in place in order to protect Israeli citizens after a long range of suicide and shooting attacks by Palestinian militants, and have prevented hundreds of such attacks.

Professor David Kretzmer, who teaches constitutional law

Constitutional law

Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....

and international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

and at the Ramat Gan Law School heavily criticized the closure of Route 443 to Palestinians in Haaretz

Haaretz

Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...

.

In 2009 Israel's High Court of Justice accepted the Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Association for Civil Rights in Israel

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel was created as an independent non-partisan organization to protect human rights and civil rights in Israel and the territories under its control....

's petition against an IDF order barring Palestinians from driving on Highway 443. The ruling should come into effect five months after being issued, allowing Palestinians to use the road for the first time since October 2000, when it was closed following the outbreak of the second intifada.

Splitting of the West Bank

According to B'Tselem, the West Bank has been split into six distinct localities by Israel's restrictions - North, Center, South, the Jordan Valley

Jordan Valley (Middle East)

, the northern Dead Sea

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

, the enclaves created by the West Bank Barrier and East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...

. Travelling between these regions is difficult and an exceptional occurrence, requiring a justification for officials, a great deal of time and sometimes substantial expense. According to a 2007 World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

report entitled Movement and Access Restriction in the West Bank, "In the West Bank, closure is implemented through an agglomeration of policies, practices and physical impediments which have fragmented the territory into ever smaller and more disconnected cantons."

According to Said Zeedani, Israeli checkpoints impede the travel of Palestinians between the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, from Gaza and the outside world. "They make it extremely difficult for Palestinians even to move from one city to another and from one village to another within the same area or region".

Closure of the West Bank

During closures, all travels permits issued to residents of the West Bank to travel over the Green Line

Green Line (Israel)

Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...

are frozen, whether they are for purposes of work, trade or medical treatment. In 2006 there were 78 closure days. In 2005 there were 132. Such closures of the West Bank are common during Jewish religious holidays.

Protests have occurred at a checkpoint on the route from the Christian holy site of Bethlehem

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

to Jerusalem. Christian Palestinians have complained that they wanted to attend church in Jerusalem to celebrate the Christian holy day of Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....

but they have been prevented by the Israeli security regime. Christian protesters have been joined by Muslims and secular Palestinians.

The West Bank Barrier and Seam Zone

The Israeli West Bank barrier

Israeli West Bank barrier

The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...

is the single largest obstacle to Palestinian movement. The zone between the barrier and the Green Line is known as the Seam Zone

Seam Zone

Seam Zone is a term used to refer to a land area in the West Bank located east of the Green Line and west of Israel's separation barrier, populated largely by Israelis in settlements such as Alfei Menashe, Ariel, Beit Arye, Modi'in Illit, Giv'at Ze'ev, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Efrat.As of...

. There are many olive groves in the seam zone and even though Israel opened "seasonal gates" in the barrier and issued permits to farmers, olive production has been hindered by the lack of access granted to Palestinian farmers throughout the year.

A UN report released in August 2005 observed that the existence of the barrier "replaced the need for closures: movement within the northern West Bank, for example, is less restrictive where the Barrier has been constructed. Physical obstacles have also been removed in Ramallah and Jerusalem governorates where the Barrier is under construction." The report notes that more freedom of movement in rural areas may ease Palestinian access to hospitals and schools, but also notes that restrictions on movement between urban population centers have not significantly changed.

Impact on medical care

Ill and wounded Palestinians who require acute medical care are placed at risk by Israeli restrictions on movement. The residents of villages and outlying regions require permits to travel to hospitals located in central regions. Obtaining the permits is difficult, requiring medical documents testifying to the illness as well as confirmation that the hospital is the only facility where the treatment is available and the time and date of the appointment.

According to B'Tselem, even if they have a valid permit, sick Palestinians must travel on long, winding, unmaintained roads and are often delayed for long periods at checkpoints. If they require medical care at night they must wait until checkpoints open during the day. Some Palestinian communities are prevented from using their cars or ambulances so that the sick must travel to the hospitals by foot. In 2007, B'Tselem documented five cases in which ill or wounded Palestinians died after being delayed at a checkpoint Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank have difficulty functioning due to the delays on the arrival of doctors and staff as a result of the movement restrictions. This has prevented the development of medical expertise in the Palestinian health system as staff are prevented from acquiring in-service training and students are preventing from going to university.

According to program director Col. Triber Bezalel, the IDF employs humanitarian officers at various checkpoints:

"[to] provide an understanding, helping hand to the Palestinians. Their job is to make life easier for those who cross the borders. To assist women who are holding babies and children, aid the elderly and sick and provide an open ear to Palestinian professionals who have special problems. These are Israel's ambassadors to our Palestinian neighbors and they perform brilliantly".

Treatment of pregnant women

Obtaining medical treatment is particularly problematic for pregnant Palestinian women about to give birth, since the delivery date is largely unpredictable yet the permits given are only valid for one or two days, as is the case for most sick persons. The women must therefore constantly renew their permits, and as a consequence, in some instances, mothers have entered labor and given birth at checkpoints because they did not have up-to-date permits. In 2007, 5 such births occurred at Israeli checkpoints. Between the years 2000 and 2006, more than 68 Palestinian women gave birth at Israeli checkpoints, according to statistics from the Palestinian health ministry. Of these, 35 women miscarried, and five died in childbirth.

Economic effects

According to B'Tselem, the restrictions on movement put in place by Israel since the Second Intifada are generally accepted as a major reason for the worsening of the Palestinian economy and as a reason for the increasing unemployment and poverty among Palestinians in the West Bank.

According to B'Tselem, tens of thousands of Palestinians lost employment in Israel as a direct result of the closure of the West Bank that Israel initiated at the start of the Second Intifada. Before the closure 110,000 Palestinians were employed in Israel and the settlements, which has been much reduced depending on the number of permits that Israel decides to issue to Palestinians.

According to B'Tselem, the checkpoints and restrictions within the West Bank

West Bank

make it difficult for Palestinians to commute to their places of employment and for goods to be transported to where they are needed. This has increased the costs of transportations and has thus led to lower profits for companies operating in the territories. According to B'Tselem, the restrictions have made trade between different sections of the West Bank inefficient, costly and erratic and this has split the West Bank economy into smaller localized markets. Agriculture and tourism are two sectors that have been greatly damaged by the movement restrictions.

According to B'Tselem, Palestinian importers and exporters have been particularly hard hit by the Israeli restrictions on commercial trade. Palestinian manufacturers that require the importation of raw materials have also faced hardship, and the Palestinian economy is highly dependent on foreign trade.

A World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

report concludes: "As long as Israeli restrictions to access to land and water resources and movement are in place, and the majority of the West Bank remains to a large degree inaccessible for Palestinian economic investment, and the investment climate will remain unfavorable and business opportunities much below potential"

Gaza Blockade

The Israel Defence Forces left the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2005 as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

. Following the withdrawal an 'Agreement on Movement and Access' between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was brokered by Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

in November 2005 to improve Palestinian freedom of movement and economic activity in the Gaza Strip. Under its terms, the Rafah

Rafah

Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...

crossing with Egypt

Egypt

was to be reopened, with transits monitored by the Palestinian National Authority and the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

. Only people with Palestinian ID, or foreign nationals, by exception, in certain categories, subject to Israeli oversight, were permitted to cross in and out. All goods, vehicles and trucks to and from Egypt had to pass through the Israeli crossing at Kerem Shalom

Kerem Shalom

Kerem Shalom is a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council and a border crossing near the meeting of the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt borders.- Kibbutz :The kibbutz was founded in 1966 adjacent to the triborder area by members of Hashomer Hatzair...

, under full Israeli supervision. Goods were also permitted transit at the Karni crossing

Karni crossing

The Karni Crossing is a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip and was opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords, in order to allow Palestinian merchants to export and import goods...

in the north.

In June 2007 Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and removed Fatah

Fatah

Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...

officials. Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel largely sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled and was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side.

According to B'Tselem, the blockade of Gaza has harmed the Gaza economy and significantly impaired Palestinian trade between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Freedom of movement of Israeli citizens

Israeli citizens are allowed freedom of movement in the West Bank

West Bank

and along all main West Bank

West Bank

roads which connect Israeli settlements to each other and to Israel. Israeli citizens are restricted from travelling through regions controlled by the Palestinian Authority. These regions amount to 18% of the West Bank.