Israel closes Erez crossing to Gaza

ISRAEL temporarily closed its only crossing from the Gaza Strip for workers yesterday in response to overnight rocket fire, stopping short of conducting retaliatory strikes in an apparent bid to ease tensions.

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 has sparked international 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, it was decided that crossings into Israel for Gazan merchants and workers through the Erez Crossing will not be permitted,” said Cogat, a unit of the Israeli defence ministry responsible for Palestinian civil affairs.

UN Secretary General António Guterres discussed the flare-up of tensions around Jerusalem’s holy sites in separate calls on Saturday with the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president.

In statements released after both the calls, the UN said Guterres discussed “efforts to lower tensions, end provocations and unilateral steps, and restore calm”.

More than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been wounded over the past week in clashes in and around the Al-Aqsa compound, a holy site for both Muslims and Jews.

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.

“The re-opening of the crossing will be decided in accordance with a security situational assessment,” Cogat said.

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 12 000 Gazans with work permits in Israel, with the government recently announcing its intention to add another 8000.

More than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been hurt 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.