By Jay Jackson, Israel Herald
13 Dec 2019, 12:05 GMT+10
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian territories - Israel announced Thursday that Christians in the Gaza Strip will be barred from visiting Holy cities including Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem this Christmas.
Christians in Gaza will be allowed to travel overseas to celebrate Christmas, however none of them will be permitted to travel to the occupied West Bank, which is home to many holy sites, a spokeswoman for the Israeli army military liaison to the Palestinians said Thursday.
The number of Gazan Christians permitted to travel abroad will be restricted to 100, and will only apply to those over 45-years of age, which means families will be largely excluded.
Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since 2007. Nothing or no-one goes into or out of the Gaza Strip without Israeli approval. The Israel army controls all Gazan land, sea and air space.
The spokeswoman confirmed "security orders," detailing that Gazans would be allowed to travel abroad using Israel's Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan, but will not be allowed to visit cities in Israel or the West Bank.
The orders are a further crackdown on the 2-million Gazan population, of which the UN estimates 55% are children.
Israel in the past has permitted Christians from the Strip to visit holy sites at Christmas. Last year around 70% of the 1,000 Christian population made pilgrimages to the sites.
"The decrease in the number of holiday permits issued to Christians in Gaza over the years, and the fact that this Christmas Israel has not allocated any permits for Christians to travel between Gaza and the West Bank, point to the intensifying of access restrictions between the two parts of the Palestinian territory, a deepening of Israel's "separation policy," Gisha, an Israeil human rights organization said in a statement Thursday.
"Twice a year, at Christmas and Easter, the Israeli military unit of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) publishes arbitrary quotas of permits, ostensibly intended to allow Gaza residents to reunite with family in the West Bank and Israel for the holidays, and to visit the holy sites in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and other places. Though COGAT regularly demonstrates pride in these measures, touting them as proof of Israel's respect for religious freedom, its conduct surrounding the publication of these quotas, and the unnecessary limitations it imposes on who can obtain a permit in practice, fall far short of Israel's obligations towards the Strip's civilian population," the Gisha statement said.
Get a daily dose of Israel Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Israel Herald.
More InformationBOISE, Idaho: Idaho authorities said that four people died when the vehicle they were traveling in collided with a train ...
DENVER, Colorado: On April 14, Colorado's Democratic-controlled House passed a bill by a vote of 35-27 banning the sale and ...
COLUMBIA, South Carolina: Federal prosecutors said that Christine Mary Livingston, supervisor in a South Carolina prison, accepted more than US$219,000 ...
Israel has established a new police force to stamp out peace activism in the West Bank. National Security Minister Itamar ...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: As Moscow's invasion into Ukraine has dragged on for more than two years, the U.S. and the UK ...
LOS ANGELES, California: Last week, the former interpreter of Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani was charged with bank fraud and ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks wavered on Thursday as strong economic data gave further impetus to the Fed ...
AUGUSTA, Maine: On April 12, the Maine Legislature passed a bill to join an interstate compact for social worker licensure ...
AUSTIN, Texas: Reuters reported this week that Tesla will make more than 10 percent of its global workforce redundant amid ...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: On April 13, U.S. Steel shareholders voted in favor of the company's proposed US$14.9 billion acquisition by Japan's ...
NEW YORK, New York - A downturn in Nvidia, and a continuation of Tuesday's sell-off following Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's ...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Wells Fargo reported a seven percent decline in first-quarter profit, surpassing analysts' forecasts despite increased costs associated ...