Rafah crossing opened only for 2 days

The Rafah Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was opened only for two days during the week, exclusively for the departure of pilgrims to Mecca (around 500), and the return of at least 360 other people, said a weekly report for the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Since the beginning of February, the crossing opened on just eight days. By contrast, during the first half of 2013, before the start of the Egyptian restrictions, the crossing was opened on all but five days, allowing an average of 1,860 people to cross per day. Prior to July 2013, Rafah functioned as the primary exit and entry point to the Gaza Strip for Palestinians, due to the long-standing restrictions imposed by Israel on movement via Erez Crossing. Due to the recurrent closures of Rafah crossing, the number of applications for permits to access medical care in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel through the Erez crossing during January 2014 was twice as many as in January 2013 (1,538 vs. 796), and the highest since 2008, according to WHO. The increase was also attributed to the growing shortage of drugs in Gaza hospitals, especially for chemotherapy treatment. About 88 percent of these applications were approved. There have been no reports of demolitions during the week in Area C or East Jerusalem, compared to a weekly average of 16 structures since the beginning of the year. However, the Israeli authorities issued stop-work orders against 18 residential structures funded by international donors in the Bedouin community of Jabal al Baba in the Jerusalem governorate, placing over 120 people at risk of displacement. The community is located in an area planned for the expansion of the Ma’ale Adummim settlement and its territorial connection to East Jerusalem (the E-1 plan). The Israeli authorities issued similar orders against residential structures in the Ibziq Bedouin community in the Jordan Valley. In the same area, on 26 February, three families (22 people, including 13 children) in the Bedouin community of Hammamat el Maleh/Al Burj were displaced for about nine hours to make way for Israeli military exercises, and another three families were verbally informed to stay in their homes during the training. Since the beginning of the year there have been at least four military trainings in the Jordan Valley resulting in the temporary displacement of approximately 350 people. Source: MENA