Israel closes crossing to Gazans
Move comes in response to overnight rocket attacks
Israel said it will close its only crossing from the Gaza Strip for workers on Sunday in response to overnight rocket fire, stopping short of conducting retaliatory strikes in an apparent bid to ease tensions.
The rocket attacks on Friday night and Saturday morning followed days of clashes at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al- Aqsa mosque compound and a month of deadly violence.
The unrest – which comes as the Jewish festival of Passover overlaps with the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan – has sparked fears of a wider conflict, one year after similar violence led to an 11- day war between Israel and Gaza- based militants.
“Following the rockets fired toward Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip last night, it was decided that crossings into Israel for Gazan merchants and workers through the Erez Crossing will not be permitted this upcoming Sunday,” said COGAT, a unit of the Israeli defense ministry responsible for Palestinian civil affairs.
Two rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel on Friday night, one of them reaching Israeli territory, the other falling short and striking near a residential building in northern Gaza, sources on both sides said.
A third rocket was fired at Israel on Saturday morning, the army said in a statement, with no air raid sirens activated for any of the launches.
They followed rocket attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, and came as Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters at Al- Aqsa mosque, leaving at least one man in hospital in serious condition.
Israel had retaliated against those attacks with air strikes, but in an apparent desire to prevent further violence, shifted its response this time to the painful economic measure of closing Erez, implying that further rockets would extend the penalty.
Employment in Israel is a lifeline for people in Gaza, where according to a recent World Bank report nearly half of the 2.3 million population is unemployed.
There are currently 12,000 Gazans with permits to work in Israel, with the government recently announcing its intention to add another 8,000.
More than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been wounded in clashes in and around Al- Aqsa in the past week.
Palestinians have been outraged by massive Israeli police deployment and repeated visits by Jews to the holy site.
Early on Friday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said 57 people were wounded after police stormed the compound in Israeliannexed east Jerusalem when Palestinians began hurling stones toward the adjacent Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.
Employment in Israel is a lifeline for people in Gaza, where according to a recent World Bank report nearly half of the 2.3 million population is unemployed.