Israel denying human rights workers access to Gaza: HRW

April 3 (UPI) -- The Israeli military is restricting human rights workers' access to Gaza, the activist organization Human Rights Watch said.

In a 47-page report released Sunday, the New York City-based group said the workers who document human rights abuses are routinely denied access as they attempt to pass from Israel to Gaza. The travel restrictions contradict Israel's statement that it relies on human rights organizations as an important source of information for investigations of possible crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza war, the report says.

"Impeding the work of human rights groups raises questions not just about the willingness of Israel's military authorities to conduct genuine investigations, but also their ability to do so," said HRW's Sari Bashi in a statement, noting that Egypt, which also shares a border with Gaza, has imposed travel restrictions between the two areas.

Israel controls all access to Gaza from the east, and has not allowed residents of Gaza to reopen its airport or construct a seaport, HRW said. It added that Hamas, the political and military organization leading Gaza, inadequately protects human rights workers within the self-governing Palestinian territory.

HRW said the situation should be of note to the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor's office is examining whether war crimes were committed in the six-week war in 2014.