Rights Group Warns Israel's New Entry Restrictions Will Further Isolate Palestinians

The Israeli government's new entry restrictions for foreigners in the West Bank facilitate further isolation of Palestinians from the global society, a prominent international human rights organization said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2023) The Israeli government's new entry restrictions for foreigners in the West Bank facilitate further isolation of Palestinians from the global society, a prominent international human rights organization said on Monday.

The Israeli government's guidelines, published on February 20, 2022 and amended in December 2022, encompass heavy restrictions on foreign visitors who want to enter the West Bank. Restricted access prevents local Palestinians from interacting not only with foreigners but also with family members lacking a special ID card, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

"By making it harder for people to spend time in the West Bank, Israel is taking yet another step toward turning the West Bank into another Gaza, where two million Palestinians have lived virtually sealed off from the outside world for over 15 years.

This policy is designed to weaken the social, cultural, and intellectual ties that Palestinians have tried to maintain with the outside world," HRW Deputy Middle East Director Eric Goldstein said.

Relations between Israel and Palestine have been adversarial since the founding of Israel in 1948. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and builds settlements in the occupied areas despite objections from the United Nations.