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The story of Israel's imposition of a blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007 after Hamas took control there is an infamous one. Yet one could well claim that the blockade really began in September 2000 when the second Intifada erupted. In that year and well into 2001 Israel inflicted severe trade restrictions on the Gaza Strip and shut down its International Airport too. Even more movement restrictions have been put in place since then.
Until the late 1980s, however, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - the Palestinian areas occupied in 1967 - were quite free to move between those areas and 48/Israel. Palestinian workers would go to their jobs in Gaza, West Bank and 48/Israel without any official restrictions. Many Gazan students attended universities in the West Bank for their undergraduate and graduate educations. Members of large families that reside across 48/Israel and Palestine were meeting and enjoying visits without impediments. The initial change of that policy came in 1991 when Israel started demanding that any Palestinian wishing to travel between Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem, or 48/Israel must obtain a personal permit (B'Tselem) first. This requirement literally meant splitting the Occupied territories into three totally separate geographical areas and giving Israel complete control over movement of the population.
Permits were relatively easy to obtain only at the very beginning and, in a very short time, regulations were tightened. Even now, most of the negotiations about travel policy are just a show that cover the reality of systematic refusal of approvals or “permits” to exit Gaza or to travel through 48/Israel, an expression of Israel's Separation Policy. During the second Intifada Israel installed numerous checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza that further interfered with movement within the occupied territories. In 2001 Israel also bombarded and destroyed the Gaza International Airport that had operat