Both Israel and Egypt have had a blockade of Gaza for the past 16 years.
You simply have not noticed it.
A
blockade has been imposed on the movement of goods and people in and out of the
Gaza Strip following
Hamas's takeover in 2007, led by Israel and supported by Egypt. The blockade's current stated aim is to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, although previously stated motivations have included exerting economic pressure on Hamas.
[1] Human rights groups have described the blockade as illegal and a form of
collective punishment as it restricts the flow of essential goods, contributes to economic hardship, and limits the freedom of movement for Gaza's residents.
[2][3]
Exit and entry into Gaza is prohibited by sea and air. There are only three crossings to go in and out of Gaza, two of them
controlled by Israel and
one by Egypt. According to a 2022 report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the blockade has significantly reduced movement of people and goods due to a reduction in the number of exit permits by Israel.
[6]
June 2007 – January 2008
In June 2007,
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the
Battle of Gaza,
[14] and removed Fatah officials. Following the Hamas takeover, the sanctions put in place after Hamas's 2006 electoral victory were dramatically tightened. Truck transits, which had been 12,000 per month in 2005, were reduced to 2,000 by November of that year, when in a further measure, in the context of Hamas rocket fire and Israeli attacks, food supplies were halved, fuel imports slashed and foreign currency restricted by the latter.
[61]
Following the Hamas takeover in Gaza, Egypt and Israel largely sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled and the PA was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side.[12]
In July 2007, Israeli officials stated they had been planning to open the Rafah border crossing to allow stranded Palestinians to return, but claimed that this plan had been cancelled after Hamas threatened to fire on the refugees.
[62]
A
Jerusalem Post article mentioned Hamas' complaints that since June 2008 the PA no longer granted passports to Gazans, thereby "preventing tens of thousands of Palestinians from being able to travel abroad".
[63]
Egypt, fearing a spill-over of Hamas-style militancy into its territory, kept its border with Gaza largely sealed.[64] Israel sealed the border completely on 17 January in response to
rocket attacks on southern Israel and
Palestinian militant attacks on crossing points between Israel and Gaza.
[65][66]
The Egyptian government feared also that Iran wanted to establish a base in its territory as well as in Gaza through its proxy Hezbollah following the
2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt.
[67][68]
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