April 28, 2013. Following the firing of a rocket from Gaza towards Israel last night, Kerem Shalom Crossing is closed and Erez Crossing is operating but according to further restrictions than per usual – travel is being allowed for Israeli citizens, medical patients, foreigners, people returning to their homes in the West Bank and other individually-approved humanitarian cases. The army spokesperson’s office tweeted that the restrictions were “due to security concerns”.

Sunday, March 24, 2013 – Amid assurances to Turkey by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of easing Gaza access, Israel has tightened restrictions on the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza, as part of what appears to be a new policy of openly blocking civilian access in direct response to fire by combatants. Gisha-Legal Center for Freedom of Movement sent an urgent letter today to the new defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, demanding that the new restrictions be lifted.

February 24, 2013. Figures published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics show that Gaza’s unemployment rate stood at 32.2% in the last quarter of 2012, compared to 31.9% in the previous quarter. The unemployment rate in the West Bank is 18.3% compared to 20.4% in the previous quarter.

The highest unemployment rate in Gaza was recorded in the northern district – 36.4%. The unemployment rate among women in Gaza stands at 48.3%, compared to 28.5% among men. Among young people aged 15-29, the rate is 48.9%.

“The export season begins each year at the beginning of winter and ends toward the onset of spring”.

As the ceasefire agreement begins implementation, here is the current state of movement restrictions into, out of, and within the Gaza Strip:

Updates for November 20, 2012 as of 5pm

*Information will be updated as it becomes available

Erez

Erez has remained open for limited travel of foreign journalists, foreign workers at international organizations, critical medical patients and Palestinian citizens of Israel returning to Israel. The crossing closed today at 1pm. Eight medical patients and their eight companions exited Gaza, as did 17 foreign nationals (journalists and staff of international organizations) and four Palestinian residents who traveled to the West Bank.

A three-and-a-half-year long legal battle waged by Gisha has led the Israeli Ministry of Defense to reveal the document entitled "Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip – Red Lines". The document includes information about the policy of restricting the entrance of food to the Gaza Strip, which was in effect between 2007 and 2010. Two versions of this document, in the format of PowerPoint presentations, were provided to Gisha over the Sukkot holiday, after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the state’s appeal against disclosing the document on September 5, 2012.

Today, for the first time since 2007, furniture made in the Gaza Strip was shipped to the West Bank. The merchandise, ordered by the Palestinian Ministry of Education in the West Bank, includes thousands of parts for school chairs and desks. It was transported in four double trailer trucks via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012: Israel's Supreme Court today ordered the Defense Ministry to release the "red lines document" in which it purportedly established the minimum caloric intake required for the survival of residents of the Gaza Strip, as part of a policy in place until June 2010 that restricted the entrance of goods into Gaza. The document reportedly details the minimum number of grams and calories that Gaza residents would be permitted to consume, according to demographic data such as gender and age.