GAZA CITY — The Gaza Center for Human Rights on Monday condemned Israel’s decision to close Gaza’s border crossings, including the “Kerem Shalom Rafah crossings, citing the recent exchange of attacks between Israel and Iran, describing the move as a new form of collective punishment against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the center said Israel was exploiting regional escalation to impose further restrictions on civilians who have endured 32 months of what it described as an ongoing genocide and humanitarian catastrophe.
The organization said it was closely following the announcement made earlier Monday by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which declared the crossings would remain closed until further notice following the exchange of missile attacks between Israel and Iran.
The center described the policy as part of a repeated pattern in which Palestinians in Gaza are punished for political and military developments unrelated to them, effectively turning civilians into hostages to regional calculations.
According to the statement, the closure constitutes collective punishment prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The organization stressed that regional tensions cannot legally or morally justify depriving civilians of food, medicine, fuel, and other essential supplies.
“The fundamental rights of civilians are not bargaining chips or a price for regional de-escalation,” the statement said, adding that closing the crossings amounts to a violation of international law regardless of the justification provided.
The rights group also said the latest closure comes on top of repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement reached on Oct. 10, particularly provisions related to humanitarian aid.
Under the agreement, 600 aid trucks, including 50 fuel trucks, were supposed to enter Gaza daily. However, the organization said fuel deliveries have reached only 14.7% of the agreed amount, while the total number of aid trucks entering Gaza has reached just 36.2% of the required level.
During the past week alone, only 1,186 trucks entered Gaza out of the 4,200 trucks stipulated under the agreement, representing just 28.2% of the expected volume, according to the statement.
The center warned that any new closure, even if temporary, could deepen the humanitarian crisis and revive the threat of famine across the besieged enclave.
It added that shutting the crossings does not merely delay aid deliveries, but directly threatens the lives of patients waiting for treatment, worsens hunger among children, and accelerates the collapse of Gaza’s already devastated healthcare system.
More than 20,000 patients currently require urgent medical evacuation outside Gaza for treatment, the organization said.
The Gaza Center for Human Rights stressed that access to food, medicine, shelter, and freedom of movement are fundamental rights protected under international humanitarian and human rights law and must not be suspended based on political or security developments.
The organization accused Israel of portraying the closure as a legitimate security response while using humanitarian measures as political leverage against civilians.
The center called for the immediate and unconditional reopening of all Gaza crossings, the resumption of humanitarian and commercial aid deliveries, and the restoration of travel access for civilians.
It also urged full implementation of the ceasefire provisions requiring the daily entry of 600 aid trucks, including 50 fuel trucks, alongside independent international monitoring to ensure aid reaches Gaza’s population.
In addition, the organization called on the international community to prevent Israel from using regional developments as a pretext to obstruct humanitarian obligations toward Gaza and demanded independent international investigations into alleged war crimes and acts of genocide.
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