Israel Announces: No Easing for Travel of People Into and Out of Gaza

Announcement comes during court proceedings relating to a request by a lawyer in Gaza for an exit permit to reach her studies in human rights and democracy in the West Bank. The Court denied the petition.
The Supreme Court yesterday rejected a petition submitted on behalf of Ms. Fatma Shatif, a human rights lawyer from Gaza, seeking to attend her Master’s studies in human rights and democracy in the West Bank. In a short verdict, the judges wrote that they had decided not to intervene in Israel’s policy, thereby permitting the continuation of the sweeping ban imposed by Israel since 2000, on the passage of students from Gaza to the West Bank for the purposes of reaching academic studies. Earlier in the proceedings, in its response to the petition, the State informed the Court that even under its “new” Gaza policy, there would not be an easing of restrictions on the passage of people to and from Gaza and that Israel will continue to permit travel only in “humanitarian and exceptional” cases, mainly relating to medical needs.

“It is not clear what Israel gains by preventing a talented young lawyer, against whom it makes no security claim, from deepening her understanding of human rights and therefore contributing to the development of a robust Palestinian civil society”, said Dr. Nomi Heger of Gisha, who argued the case. “I regret that the court declined to follow its own case law and evaluate Ms. Sharif’s request in the framework which the court itself established in 2007, namely the need to consider exceptions to the general ban”.

“Regarding passage for the population, the announcement [of June 20] did not say anything about expanding the current policy, which permits entrance in humanitarian cases, with emphasis on urgent medical cases … To be clear: this decision does nothing to expand the criteria, and it certainly does not permit passage for purposes of Master’s degree studies”.