15 years of illegal closure and blockade in Gaza have been characterised by suffocating restrictions on the movement of people and goods, repeated military attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and other discriminatory and fragmentary policies and practices.
In defiance of international law and in full sight of the international community, Israel has imposed collective punishment on Gaza’s two million inhabitants, precipitating a human-made humanitarian catastrophe that continues to deteriorate year-on-year. Israel’s closure policy and related restrictions on healthcare derive from a broader system of discrimination that is imposed collectively on Palestinians on the basis of nationality and ethnicity, and serve to fragment the Palestinian people and the services available to them, such as healthcare.
This report presents an overview of the right to health in Gaza after 15 years of blockade and closure, and one year on from Israel's devastating offensive in May 2021, with a focus on the impacts of Israel’s movement restrictions on patients.