With the Rafah crossing still closed, the entire population of the Gaza Strip is living under a state of siege, writes Serene Assir The crisis triggered by the 9 June closure of the Rafah crossing into Gaza is deepening, and it has not ended with the return of nearly 6,000 Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side of the border via the Egyptian-Israeli controlled terminal of Al-Oja. It is estimated that at least 250 people remain stranded today, many of whom fear re-entry via an Israeli- controlled crossing lest they be detained. The closure of the crossing has also put the Gaza Strip's population of nearly 1.5 million under siege, with humanitarian and human rights agencies repeatedly warning over recent weeks of the dangers to the population of a continued siege. Israeli-controlled goods terminals into Gaza have been dysfunctional for weeks, adding to the continued international pressure aimed at undercutting Hamas's popularity in the Strip. The continued closure of the Rafah terminal, the closest Gaza has to a sovereign terminal, by Israel, supported by the Palestinian Authority, has effectively made prisoners of Gaza's residents. "For more than two months the entire population of the Gaza Strip has been prevented from leaving, with disastrous consequences. Gaza residents are prevented from getting medical care not available in Gaza, from attending professional conferences, academic courses and family events abroad," the Amnesty International researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories Donatella Rovera told Al-Ahram Weekly. Among the victims of the closure on the Palestinian side of the border is photographer Emad Ghanem, who lost both his legs after Israeli troops fired at him while he was covering an Israeli incursion into Gaza on 5 July. According to a Reporters without Borders statement, Ghanem "needs help. He is still waiting for a chance to travel to Egypt to be given prosthetic limbs. He also needs rehabilitation sessions in order to be able to live normally and go back to work." On the Egyptian side, scores of people with histories of resistance activity feared re-entry via Al-Oja while it was still operational lest they be arrested. Compounding their fears, at least one man was arrested upon re-entry via Al-Oja, according to Egyptian military and strategic expert General Salaheddin Selim. Others feared re-entry despite not having a history in the resistance, such as one man who gave only his first name, Saleh. Victim of a rocket attack in 2004, four months ago he travelled to Iran to receive treatment and prosthetic limbs upon receipt of a grant. But, "in and of itself that trip could have created suspicions," Saleh's brother said. "We couldn't take the risk [of re-entry], not with my brother's condition." This is not the first time that Rafah has been closed over the past two years and since the signing of an agreement governing the crossing in November 2005, which stipulated that Palestinian Authority (PA) personnel would govern entry and exit on the Palestinian side of the border under European Union observation. However, the present closure has been by far the most serious, observers say. Intelligence sources in Cairo speaking to the Weekly on condition of anonymity have further signalled that there are no indications that the border will re-open any time soon. Moreover, there is agreement among officials, rights groups and observers that the closure of the Rafah terminal amounts to unwarranted hardship on the population. "The crossing is the only outlet to normalcy that the residents of Gaza have," Palestinian Ambassador to the Arab League Mohamed Sbeih told the Weekly. "That they have been denied that outlet amounts to collective punishment." According to Selim, the November 2005 agreement expired one year later and was due for a review which has still not occurred. It is understood that pending that review there is no agreement to refer to, or stipulation that the PA alone should guard the border, which is the justification that has been used to blame Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip on 14 July for the closure. "Egypt has repeatedly called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to allow the border to be re-opened," Selim told the Weekly. "It could function under the combined control of the Presidential Guard and the Executive Forces, headed by an officer from the former. It is Abbas who has refused." However, given that it appears that Rafah will remain sealed for some time to come, Gaza looks set for even worse consequences if there is not a rapid change in the factors involved. "In the long run, we are looking at a possible all-out Palestinian civil war, one triggered by despair even more than by politics," said Mohamed El-Sayed Said, deputy director of Al-Ahram's Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. "This may well form a part of the US and Israel's long-term strategy on Gaza, as reflected in the region as a whole, to create a permanent fission between the West Bank and Gaza." Validating the argument is the fact that Israel has long been unable to bring the restive Gaza Strip under control. "Israel has long tried to use force via incursions and the like," Said said. "Now, however, it is looking to what it believes will be a more effective strategy, which is total internal breakdown."
