is a moron.First of all you bunch of morons you go tell Hamas to stop shooting rockets into Israel and to cut out terrorism.Then maybe we can talk,until then nothing.Put the ball in there court.

a siege wouldn't let thousands of tons of supplies enter gaza - it is a blockade to control the supply of military materials in a state of declared war. hamas has declared its intention to wage war against israel (and the jews) and its goal as the destruction of israel. shouldn't that have to change first? the people of gaza voted for hamas and its genocidal charter. and in opinion polls 70-80% say that they support hamas and terrorism, an approval rating which western politicians, including mr obama, can only dream about. "collective punishment" is a prejudicial term - it could also be called "democracy". shouldn't the gazans lift the hatred and violence before israel lifts the blockade and puts more weapons into their hands?

Now, Israel has Gilad back: close it down...and don't let nothin' in! God bless Israel!

WHY IS SHE BLAMING ISRAEL FOR THE LACK OF EXPORTS!? Maybe she should blame Egypt which shares a border instead.

1.5 million Palestinian people 'over half of them children' under "Israeli" siege in Gaza for ONE missing soldier : NOT TERRORISM!!

as well as attacks on Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva and the rest of the Eshkol region. The blockade is NOT only about Shalit.

the siege started because of Hamas terror attack which killed 3 Israeli civilians 4 years ago, the were killed when they worked in gaz station which provided Gaza with fuel, the siege got nothing to do with Schalit, this author got no idea y and does not know when or where, in other words this is a wast of time.

I endorse Sari Bashi's views. Any blockade, for military purpose, making pain to common people, is harmful. It provokes much hate against the "enemy", and more support for radical fundamentalistic leaders. See "U.S.A x Cuba". Israel, a democratic and humanistic State, must demonstrate, again, her greatness, puting an end to Gaza's blockade. But, of course, without endangering her too important defences.

Close the border COMPLETELY until Hamas surrenders! No THOUSANDS of trucks filled with everything, no free electricity! Enough with the Sahriah sponsoring B.S.

Could you suggest how would Israel put an end in Gaza's blockade without endangering its defences?

Oooooo Salma where have you been hiding of late? Haven't heard a peeps from you in a while. Have you been sick, dearie? Ach! Gute Besserung meine Liebe!

The blockade on Gaza is a thorn in Hamas's side. If Israel lifted the blockade it would be playing into Hamas's hand and the hand of hostile pro Hamas parties like Turkey and Iran

Madness

the last time i checked, the united states, a "democratic and humanistic State", as you put it, had been blockading cuba for over 50 years. and yet cuba has never fired a single rocket at the united states, or at american civilians. hamas has fired over 10,000 rockets at israeli civilians, inside israel. perhaps you are right, israel should learn from the american example, and should consider lifting the blcokade of gaza, 50 years after they stop attacking israel.

haven't you done enough to reward arabs for electing hamas?for kidnapping?for bombings?what seige?you are under seige!

Israel should not lift the blockade; it should tighten it. Make it far more stringent. If the Gazans want electricity, let them get it from the Egyptians. If they want fresh water, let them get it from the Egyptians. If they want medical care, let them get it from the Egyptians. The time has come to free Israel from these parasites.

You must be joking. This isn't about beauticians wanting to go to conferences in Judea/Samaria (not the West Bank). It's about security. These people lie and will use anything to continue their reign of terror against Israel. You don't see that yet? Pay attention then. If you undo the blockade, then why not just release all the wild animals from the zoo too. Those lions and tigers shouldn't be there either, right. Let them mingle among the people. You clearly are not thinking with your head Sari. If you did, you wouldn't even suggest this.

You guys should have thought of that before kidnapping Gilad Shalit. You reaped what you sowed.

What pain for the common people? Were it not for Israel, the people of Gaza would endure terrible pain. Israel can cut off Gaza's electricity at a moment's notice. Israel can cut off fresh water deliveries to Gaza at a moment's notice. Israel can stop trucking in the millions of metric tons of foodstuff and other goods that it brings to Gaza every week at a moment's notice. Israel can decline to provide emergency and critical medical care to Gazans at a moment's notice. Do you think Egypt -- which also shares a border with Gaza -- would pick up the slack? Doubtful. In the meantime, we have all the blustering announcements out of Hamas that they are going to kidnap more Israeli soldiers. The best way to put an end to the blockade of Gaza would be for ordinary Gazans to rise up against their terrorist leadership. Unless and until they do, there is precious little incentive for Israel to end the blockade. And the Gazans would be wise to cut down on the rhetoric and the threats. Israel can bring a great deal of misery to them, in very short order. In fact .... I think Israel should. It would teach them a lesson that they are sorely in need of learning.

i think israel must change its strategy b/c now u r loosing everything.

It has everything to do with access to weapons by Hamas.

Sorry Sari - you are hardly in the position to make the argument for what or what doesn't boast Hamas. Your actions against the Israeli govt and Israeli citizens in favor of Arabs, even though undemocratic and bordering on unlawful have essentially made you and Gisha an untrustworthy biased NGO, like Peace Now, ACRI, B'tselem, Machsom Watch, etc. One thing you ignore, but is very much a point in favor of the blockade, is the UN's recognition to its legality in terms of blocking weapons smuggling in light of the illegal war Hamas declared on Israel in 2007. Never does this illegal war nor the very real threat by Hamas on Israeli citizens ever enter your lexicon. Infact, you hardly make an issue FOR the average Israeli citizen at all. Gisha is, at its very soul, an Arab organization which enjoys the very open and Western-style democracy of Israel. No different from those Israeli Arabs who decry the State and denounce its majority population, but demand continued State benefits.

Sari, the ICRC rescinded that claim least year after Israel eased the blockade to allow other items into Gaza. ICRC declared that THERE IS NO HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA! Perhaps you simply missed that memo...especially since it is anathema to your biased agenda, hmmm?

Israel, on the other hand, should close its border with Gaza and cease supplying it with any goods and/or services since Gaza is in a state of armed conflict with the nation-state of the Jewish people. And, as part of the closing of the borders, Israel must continue to impose a sea blockade on Gaza to prevent, as much as possible, of arms reaching this entity.

plain truth. 1948 your Arab Leader told you the same : Our victory Jews in sea and you find yourself displaced what do you call and still you call a victory. In Jewish faith the human life is sacre and we are ready to make any sacrifice to save it. In your belive and your leader approach 1 mil. people are not worth it see Syria, Egypt, Libia, Gaza. Your leader keep you in darkness, uneducated in order to opress you, and when you have a chance to choose in lack of basic moral value, your are choosing the devil. Good luck to you!!!!!

Blockade and border controls are two different things.There doesn't seem to be a blockade any more because the Egyptian government is stabbing Israel in the back. If Hamas wishes to maintain the Gaza Strip's sovereignty,there doesn't seem to be any reason why Israel shouldn't maintain its sovereignty.Israel doesn't have to maintain a blockade...it can simply completely close its borders with the Gaza Strip and throw the problem of supplying it back onto Egypt...ie kick Egypt's Trojan horse back into Egypt where it belongs. For me the final 2 lines of the article say the lot..."Sari Bashi is the director of Gisha, the legal center for freedom of movement". Nobody in his right mind would promote freedom of movement for terrorists unless there was an ulterior motive. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!

Israel's blocade of Gaza has nothing to do with Shalit. It is intended to stop terrorists from freely importing weapons to murder and maim Israelis. This ludicrous article is an example of the leftist lunacy that costs countless innocent people their lives.

Last time I checked the United States prevented US citizens and businesses from engaging in trade with Cuba. They didn't maintain a sea,air and naval blockade to prevent other nations from trading with Cuba. Israel even prevented $4.5 billion in international humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza and put Gaza on a "diet" as one minister put it. The minimum amount of food was let in so as to not cause a humanitarian disaster. No one is saying Israel should not blockade military hardware including the author.