ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/GAZA-FENCE For desperate Gazans, a flight into Israel and the unknown

Record ID: 147706

  • Title: ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/GAZA-FENCE For desperate Gazans, a flight into Israel and the unknown
  • Date: 10th July 2015
  • Summary: BORDER AREA BETWEEN ISRAEL AND GAZA, ISRAEL (JULY 8, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BORDER AREA BETWEEN ISRAEL AND GAZA BORDER FENCE BORDER AREA BETWEEN ISRAEL AND GAZA, GAZA (RECENT - JULY 5, 2015) (REUTERS) BORDER AREA BETWEEN GAZA AND ISRAEL BORDER AREA AS SEEN FROM A DESTROYED HOME RESIDENT OF AL-MAGHAZI REFUGEE CAMP WHO TRIED TO ESCAPE FROM GAZA TO ISRAEL, ABDALLAH AL-HAD
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gaza
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3KP5S3O2FMEITWZ1UAGYFRU2Y
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: For 18-year-old Abdallah al-Haddad life across the border fence with Israel, less than a mile away from his home in the al-Maghazi refugee camp, seemed to offer an escape from hopelessness in the Gaza Strip.
    So much so that like dozens of other young Palestinians stifled by poverty and unemployment in the blockaded enclave, he was willing to risk life and limb to climb over the heavily secured border.
    "There is no work, and there is nothing to do. It is boring, and life is tough. Because of that we want to escape," he told Reuters in his three-room home where he lives with 11 family members.
    When dark fell on a February night al-Haddad began climbing the less-than-four metre fence.
    "We crossed the fence where there was no one watching, but minutes later the (Israeli military) jeeps arrived and (soldiers) arrested us," he added.
    The nighttime dash ended up landing him in an Israeli jail for three months.
    Another Gazan youth who tried to escape into Israel, Rami Abu Etameh from Khan Younis, said he needed to provide for the needs of his family.
    "The reason why I have tried to escape is the tough life and I was facing economical pressures and should provide the needs of my family; like pay for renting the house and pay for (treating) my sister who has cancer and my father is sick as well," Abu Etameh said.
    Though it is not a mass-phenomenon - the Israeli military said it has caught 130 Palestinian fence jumpers in the past year - it attests to despair among young Gazans, driven deeper after the 2014 Gaza war in which more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed and thousands left homeless.
    The World Bank has said Gaza's economy is in a worse state than any other in the world, with unemployment at a global high of 43 percent and 68 percent among those aged 20-24.
    Israel gives work permits in its territory to Palestinians from the West Bank, but not from Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas group, designated a terrorist group by Israel and the West.
    Palestinians who sneak into Israel and work with no permit can make up to 250 Shekels($66) a day in construction, according to Israeli watchdog Workers Hotline. A construction worker in Gaza would make about a fifth of that.
    Israeli law allows punishment of up to 5 years in jail for unarmed infiltration across its borders. Crossing with a weapon risks up to 15 years in jail and crossing with a firearm or explosives can carry a life sentence.
    An Israeli military officer in the Gaza Division said most border-jumpers are unarmed teens who say they are looking for work or to escape family hardship.
    But for some jail may be more appealing than life in Gaza.
    "Usually it is teenagers who are apparently looking for some kind of work. It is not consistent, the numbers change, they come, they cross, they are caught and as I said it is mostly kids. Seems like it is not good for them (to live) there (in Gaza)," said Master Sergeant Vova Kazinets, commander of Israeli military unit responsible for border fence maintenance.
    According to the Israeli Prison Service, 50 Gazans are presently incarcerated for illegally crossing the border and an official in the Israeli justice system said the average prison time served is about 11 months.
    Hamas has its own reasons for trying to stop border jumpers.
    The interior ministry has increased observation points and security patrols along the border, said its spokesman, Eyad al-Bozom, to detain fence jumpers, some of whom he says are pressured by Israeli intelligence to become "collaborators."
    Acknowledging an increase in the number of fence jumpers in the past two years, Al-Bozom said most of those stopped on the Gaza side are aged 17 to 25.
    "Since the beginning of 2015, we have increased more restrictions on the eastern borders and especially the areas that have the highest number of sneaking like Johor al-Deek area and Deir al-Balah area. By increasing the number of checkpoints and police cars in these areas. And these restrictions have helped in decreasing the number of illegal border crossers. We are observing the situation to end this phenomenon," al-Bozom said.
    "We are warning youth (and telling them that), every person that goes to these areas puts himself in the circle of danger and suspicion because he will have two options only, either to get arrested and extorted by the (Israeli) occupation or to get killed by Israeli fire. Therefore, we are taking all the security measures to protect our Palestinian community and our youth from the Israeli security systems," he added.
    The Israeli military said any increase in the number of Gaza border-jumpers was not a major change of trend, but it did not divulge data on previous years.
    The Israeli officer said Hamas watches the incidents to learn their enemy's military movements along the border. He recalled only one Gazan ever making it past the army before being caught near an Israeli town.
    Israel employs a 300-metre no-go zone for Palestinians by the Gaza side of the fence, dozens have been wounded there by Israeli gunfire this year.
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