’Israel’ Bans AI, HRW from Entering Gaza

Local Editor

"Israel" has been preventing Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch workers from entering Gaza to investigate the "Israeli" war crimes and human rights violations.

Both human rights organizations have been unsuccessfully trying to get permission from the regional Civil Administration to enter Gaza since July 7, "Israeli" outlet Haaretz reports.

"Israeli" authorities claimed two reasons for their refusal to grant the human rights watchdog permits: the closure of the Erez border crossing, located between the Zionist entity and the seized Gaza Strip, and that neither group is part of a list of aid groups approved by the so-called "Israeli" Ministry of "Social Affairs".

HRW representatives have been barred from entering Gaza through the Erez crossing since 2006, while Amnesty's representatives have been refused entry since June 2012. The two were able to use Egypt's Rafah border crossing to enter Gaza until Mohamed Mursi's government was brought down by the country's armed forces in 2013. Since then, Egypt has not issued a clear response as to why it has closed its own border, though its military has been active in the Sinai.

Amnesty not considered an aid organization

While both HRW and Amnesty International have been actively trying to obtain permission from "Israel" to enter the Gaza Strip, their requests have been turned down.

Amnesty was told that it could not be registered with the "Israeli" Foreign Ministry, and the "Social Affairs" Ministry stated that the group does not qualify under the aid or humanitarian organizations category, according to Amnesty International's Executive Director in "Israel" Yonatan Gher.

Both groups have criticized "Israel", clarifying that the ban has been hindering investigations into the human rights violations and war crimes.

"We're doing everything we can, both Human Rights Watch and us, to do all the documentation we can, both on the ground in Gaza and remotely. But not being able to have researchers there does create difficulties," Amnesty worker Deborah Hyams told Reuters, adding that the group had only one local worker on the ground.

At the same time, HRW Middle East researcher Bill Van Esveld stated his group had two representatives in Gaza.

"They're overwhelmed. There's so much to look into ... and physical evidence about the events there is disappearing as time goes by," he said.

The entry bans come amid international criticism against "Israel" for violating war and humanitarian laws.

Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said "Israel" may be committing war crimes in Gaza. Speaking in Geneva, Navi Pillay said house demolitions and the killing of children raise the "strong possibility" that "Israel" is violating international law.

This was followed by the UN's decision to investigate war crimes during the two-month "Israeli" aggression against Gaza.

The team will look at "all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law ... in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014," and present a report in March 2015, according to a statement by the UN.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team