9)
International Crossings
and the Right for
Movement
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within
the borders of each
State.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and
to return to his
country.
Article
13, The Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights
The
Israeli occupation
forces violated, and
continues to violate
this right by preventing
Palestinian civilians
from movement within
their Territories, and
from travel abroad.
Since the
outbreak of al-Aqsa
Intifada, the Israeli
army has imposed very
strict control on all
international crossings
to and from the
Palestinian Territories.
To make the
situation even worse, on
9/10/2001 the Israeli
authorities closed the
crossings, even for
letting goods and
supplies into the
Territories.
In
Rafah District there are
two crossings, one
international with Egypt
(al-‘Awda : the
Return Crossing) and one
for trade with Israel (Soufa
Crossing).
A)
al-‘Awda Crossing:
This
crossing links Gaza
Strip with Egypt and has
two tracks- one for
people traveling to and
from Gaza Strip and the
other for commercial
goods.
This border
crossing became a place
of suffering and
frustration for
Palestinian people, as
the Israeli authorities
control it completely
and often close it for
days, for stated
“security reasons”.
Prior to the
Intifada, the crossing
used to work 24 hours,
but now it only
functions from 9:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. which
leaves hundreds of
Palestinians stuck on
both sides of the
crossing for hours, and
sometimes for days.
B)
Gaza International
Airport:
This
is the only airport in
the Palestinian
territories. It is located to the southwest of Rafah City, in the south of
Gaza Strip.
The Israeli
authorities have closed
it on several occasions
since the start of the
current Intifada.
But from
14/2/2001, Israel has
closed the air transport
of the Territories,
which meant that the
Airport has stopped
functioning from that
day until now.
Moreover, on
4/12/2001, the Israeli
army attacked Gaza
Airport with tanks and
destroyed the runway of
the airport.
The tanks made 17
holes in the landing
field making it
impossible for planes to
land in the airport in
the near future. Finally, the Israeli air force (F-16 fighters) bombarded Gaza
Airport on Wednesday
12/12/2001 at about
10:30 p.m. hitting the
Control Room and
destroying it
completely.
C)
Soufa Crossing:
It
is located to the east
of Rafah, used mainly
for transporting
building materials into
Gaza Strip from Israel,
and for Palestinian
workers to cross into
Israel for work.
This crossing has
been closed on many
times since the
beginning of the al-Aqsa
Intifada.
