How Israel controls movement of men and material in and out of Gaza | Data

This data point focuses on Israel’s control of exits and entry points, which determines trade and movement of men for employment and other needs.

Two Data Points published last week explored the impoverished nature of the Palestinian territories, especially Gaza, and how Israel controls employment, trade, water and electricity in both Gaza and the West Bank. This third and concluding part of the series on the Israel-Hamas conflict also explores how Israel controls the economy of the Palestinian territories, but focuses only on Israel’s control of exits and entry points, which determines trade and movement of men for employment and other needs.

With entries and exits by air and sea banned, only three crossings — two controlled by Israel and one by Egypt — are available for movement in and out of Gaza. In 2022, 4.24 lakh people were allowed to exit from Gaza to Israel or through Israel to the West Bank. The total estimated population of Gaza in mid-2022 was 20 lakh. In other words, one in five people were allowed to exit once in 2022. The more than 4 lakh exit permits issued in 2022 is the highest in about two decades; the previous high of 5.21 lakh was recorded in 2004. These numbers pale in comparison to the 60 lakh exits recorded in 2000.

Chart 1 | The chart shows the exits of people from Gaza to or through Israel (M=million, k=1,000).

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As can be seen in Chart 1, the exit of people permitted to Israel or through it took a dive in the 2000s and remained low in the 2010s due to escalation of hostility at various points in time. In 2008, only 0.26 lakh permits were issued, the lowest ever. In 2006, after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections and started controlling Gaza, Israel stopped most workers from entering the country. This is significant because Gaza lacks industries and most workers found employment in Israel or its settlements. Due to lack of permits, Gaza’s labour force participation rate dwindled in the following years reaching 35% in 2021, among the lowest in the world, as recorded in the Data Point last Monday. Of those who are looking for jobs in Gaza, half are unemployed. These are direct consequences of the decline in exit permits.

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Not just workers, but patients from Gaza who need to cross Israel to access services in the West Bank get delayed for their appointments. In 2022, only two out of every three applications submitted for referral patients to exit Gaza were approved by the time of appointment. Given that Gaza has only 13 hospital beds per 10,000 population, which is among the lowest in the world, this restriction assumes more significance.