Tag Archives: Hamas

Camped Out in Erez Crossing

Posted on May 2, 2010

The eleven-day protest of Ahmed Sabeh, released from an Israeli prison on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, and taken to the Gaza Strip – even though his home, wife and son are in Tulkarem – raises an interesting challenge to Israel’s control over the borders and population registry of the occupied Palestinian territory. Mr. Sabeh has camped out inside the Erez Crossing, refusing to enter Gaza, in protest of Israel’s refusal to allow him to return to his home in the West Bank. The Hamas government, in turn… Continue reading →

Posted in Movement of people out of Gaza | 5 Comments

Transferring goods, fashionably late

Posted on April 22, 2010

When the closure was imposed on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, clothes and footwear importers in Gaza found themselves unable to bring goods into the Strip that they had ordered from abroad. For… Continue reading →

Posted in Movement of goods into Gaza | 1 Comment

Militants Fire, Civilians Are Punished

Posted on January 14, 2010

The firing of rockets and mortar shells on towns in southern Israel from the Gaza Strip last week should be categorically condemned, since it targeted Israeli civilians or failed to distinguish between military and civilian targets. The perpetrators and the Hamas government which allows militant groups to fire from the territory under its control must be held accountable. The Israeli Defense Ministry’s hasty response, however, declaring that Kerem Shalom would be closed until further notice, raised concern among those trying to transfer humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Continue reading →

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Has Israel forgotten the "reason" for Gaza's closure?

Posted on December 29, 2009

As news organizations report each detail of a possible prisoner release deal between Israel and Hamas, a related subject is receiving less attention: whether the release of the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, would lead to an opening of Gaza’s crossings, closed to all but the bare minimum passage of people and goods. Continue reading →

Posted in Movement of goods into Gaza, Movement of people into Gaza, Movement of people out of Gaza | 1 Comment

A Non-Economy

Posted on October 20, 2009

Perhaps the Israeli business sector understands something that Israeli politicians simply don’t comprehend – that the Palestinian economy in Gaza, which has collapsed due the 27-month-long closure imposed by Israel, has changed beyond recognition: hundreds of tunnels are currently operational in the Strip (between 600 and 1,000) and thousands of people are risking their lives to work in them. These tunnels are supplying about two-thirds of the goods required by the residents of the Gaza Strip. Thousands of dollars in permit fees and millions of dollars in taxes are being collected by the Hamas government. Continue reading →

Posted in Movement of goods into Gaza | 2 Comments

Historian Says Economic Embargo is the Wrong Strategy

Posted on August 9, 2009

In the JPost today Yagil Henkin – a military historian from the Shalem Center – argues that “it is very unlikely that sanctions will cause the Hamas government to fall,” as “comprehensive economic sanctions can backfire; they tend to consolidate … Continue reading →

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