The Siege of Gaza

On December 14 I arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. I had come to Israel in my capacity as UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories. I planned to visit Gaza, meet with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas and tour the West Bank. Israeli officials had been given an advance itinerary for my trip.

I was, however, taken from the passport line by Israeli authorities and denied entry by Israeli. I was driven a mile from the airport and placed in a filthy detention facility, which reeked of urine, for 20 hours and deported.

My expulsion, no doubt a result of my public condemnations of the Israeli siege of Gaza, is trivial compared to the human suffering endured by the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza. But it is another example of Israeli attempting to hide what is happening in Gaza from outside view and intimidate those of us who condemn Israeli crimes.

The residents of Gaza, half of whom depend on U.N. food donations to survive, live in what can only be described as a vast, open air prison. They are denied entry and exit by Israel. Since November 4, when an Israeli violation of the current truce led to the resumption of crude rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Palestinians in Gaza have suffered from an Israeli blockade and massive collective punishment that is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. I have called on the International Criminal Court to investigate this violation, and determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law.

The blockade of Gaza is defended by Israeli authorities as a legitimate retaliation for Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets that have been fired across the border at the Israeli town of Sderot. The firing of such rockets, as I have stated many times, is also a violation of international law. It too targets innocent civilians and is a crime. I condemn these attacks. The current spate of rocket attacks, which have not resulted in Israeli casualties, however, does not give Israel the moral or legal license to punish the entire population of Gaza, including the sick, children, the elderly and the majority of Palestinians who have no involvement in the rocket attacks.

Israel’s siege of Gaza is largely unseen by the outside world. I am not the only official to be denied entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities. Numerous humanitarian wide workers, along with reporters and photographers, have been barred from Gaza to keep witnesses from reporting to the outside world on the tragic human cost of the siege.

The statistics we do have from Gaza are deeply disturbing. A recent study reports that 46 percent of all Gazan children suffer from acute anemia. There are reports that the sonic booms associated with Israeli over flights have caused widespread deafness, especially among children. Thousands of Gazan children need hearing aids. Malnutrition is extremely high and affects, in varying degrees, 75 percent of Gazans. There are widespread mental disorders caused by the stress and despair. Over 50 percent of Gazan children under the age of 12 have no will to live.

Gaza now spends at least 12 hours a day without power. Basic drugs and medicine, including cancer or cystic fibrosis medication, are no longer available. The generators for hospitals, vital to keep seriously ill patients alive, lack fuel and often do not function. Sophisticated medical equipment, such as CT scanners, have bee destroyed in the power surges and medical staff cannot control the temperature of incubators for newborns. Those who need specialized care, including cancer patients and those in need of kidney dialysis, often cannot leave Gaza for care and many have died. There were an estimated 230 Gazans believed to have died last year because they were denied proper medical care. Several of these patients spent their last hours at Israeli crossing points where they were refused entry into Israel.

The magnitude of the suffering by the Palestinians, and the deliberate violation of international humanitarian law by Israel, is indefensible. It should be addressed forcefully by the international community. The Israeli authorities who carry out this draconian policy must be held accountable. We cannot build a world that respects human rights and the rule of law unless we judge everyone, including those who are our allies, by the same impartial standard.

Richard Falk is professor of international law at Princeton University and the UN's special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories