Gaza crossing shut after assassination

Closure may be to prevent suspected killers from leaving

GAZA CITY // Hamas shut the crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel yesterday after blaming the Jewish state for the assassination of one of its officials in the Palestinian enclave.

The interior ministry in Gaza, run by the Hamas movement, said it was shutting the Erez crossing for an indefinite period while it investigated the murder of Mazen Faqha on Friday. Spokesman Iyad Al Bozum said the crossing would be “fully closed in both directions”.

He did not give details about the reason for the closure, although there was speculation authorities might be seeking to prevent those responsible for the killing from leaving.

Hamas officials have blamed the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and its collaborators for the killing of Faqha, 38, who was killed by unknown gunmen.

He was hit by four bullets from a pistol fitted with a silencer.

Israel has not commented on the shooting.

Suspecting that locals were involved in collaborating with Israel, Hamas set up dozens of checkpoints across the Gaza Strip, where drivers are asked to turn on their interior lights and hand over identification for inspection.

The closing of Erez also applies to aid workers and patients needing medical help in Israel. Exits by sea were also banned.

According to Israeli media, Faqha was responsible for cells of Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, in the Israeli- occupied West Bank.

Yesterday, Faqha’s wife, Nahed Assida, urged “Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to respond to this assassination”.

“The price of my husband’s blood is in your hands,” she said during a conference in Gaza.

Faqha’s funeral on Saturday drew thousands of Hamas supporters into the streets with chants of “revenge” and “death to Israel”.

Ismail Haniya, until recently the head of Hamas in Gaza, and Yahya Sinwar, his successor, led the procession. According to Hamas, Faqha formed cells for the group’s military wing in the West Bank cities of Tubas – where he was born – and Jenin. It said he played an important role in preparing two major attacks.

They included a suicide attack in the Israeli settlement neighbourhood of Gilo in east Jerusalem in 2002 that killed 19.

The second was a suicide bus attack later that year that killed nine people in the northern Israeli city of Safed.

They were part of a wave of suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis during the second intifada, or uprising, between 2000 and 2005.

Israel sentenced him to nine life sentences plus 50 years but he was released in 2011 along with more than 1,000 other Palestinians in exchange for Gilad Shalit – an Israeli soldier Hamas had detained for five years – and transferred to Gaza.

Israel did not immediately comment on yesterday’s closure but said its side of the crossing remained open. The Erez crossing is the only one between Gaza and Israel for people.

Another crossing with Israel, Kerem Shalom, is used for goods. It remained open yesterday, Palestinian officials said.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade. Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel have fought three wars since 2008.

Gaza’s sole crossing with Egypt has also remained largely closed in recent years.