Watchdog: Egyptian regime’s behavior on Rafah crossing amounts to “war crime”
London (QNN)- The Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR) said that the treatment of Egypt’s regime with Palestinians at the Rafah border crossing is “contrary to humanitarian norms of clemency and co-operation and, moreover, a blatant violation of international law” and described it of “amount[ing] to a war crime and crimes against humanity as defined by Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute”.
The organization stated in a press statement that those stranded at the Rafah border crossing “continue to suffer due to the Egyptian authorities’ management of the crossing”.
It added that the Egyptian regime allows only a limited number of people to cross, while does not provide adequate places where people are able to safely wait as they attempt to return to their homes in Gaza.
The organization also said that after a one-year closure of the border crossing due to COVID-19 restrictions, Egypt opened it exceptionally and urgently for few days only. At the start of this month, Egypt opened the border crossing for four days only and treated Palestinian citizens in an inhumane way.
THe AOHR added that there are now approximately 20,000 people wishing to travel to and from Gaza. The Egyptian authorities returned approximately 85 vehicles (each with between 7-12 passengers) to Cairo, after having waited at Suez Canal ferry terminal for up to five days, in the hope of returning to Gaza.
It also stressed that life in the Gaza Strip cannot continue under such restrictions, which further increase the suffering of a people living under Israel’s near fifteen-year occupation, which has caused the collapse of the health, educational, industrial, and economic systems in Gaza, and both mass unemployment and profound poverty.
