Israel and Egypt reopen Gaza crossings to ease tensions
Israel has ordered the reopening of its border crossings with Gaza, one for people and one for goods, days after closing them because of a Palestinian rocket attack.
The order came as Egypt also opened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza. Cairo has opened the crossing several days each week since May to ease the territory’s humanitarian crisis and help scores of Gazans wounded by sniper fire during border protests against Israel’s siege of the enclave.
Egypt mostly kept the border closed after the overthrow of Hamas-backed Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Relations between Cairo and Hamas have thawed somewhat since then.
The moves follow efforts to prevent further violence that raised fears of a new war between Israel and Hamas.
“The decision comes after a decrease in the violent events in Gaza over the weekend and efforts Hamas made to restrain demonstrators,” Israel’s defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said.
Hamas denied responsibility for the rocket launches and said it was investigating the incident. But Israel rejected the group’s denial, saying Hamas was the only militant organisation in Gaza armed with rockets of that range.
Israel also holds Hamas, as Gaza’s de facto rulers, responsible for all attacks launched from the territory regardless of what group carries it out.
The border crossings are the only two land routes for Gazans in and out of the territory.
Hamas interior ministry spokesman Iyad Al Bozum said there is a list of thousands of Gazans waiting to leave the territory.
These are notified online when their turn comes. Several hundred out of about two million people who live in the territory can leave in a week.
Israel suspended fuel deliveries to the Palestinian enclave this month, citing attempted border breaches and incendiary balloons being launched into its territory.
A decision on renewed Israeli fuel deliveries “has been put off for the time being and will be examined in a number of days based on events,” Mr Lieberman’s office said yesterday.
The United Nations has warned that Gaza may become unlivable by 2020 as restrictions continue to batter the territory’s economy, leaving it with the highest unemployment rate in the world.
On Friday, UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov urged all sides “to exercise restraint, to proceed in a peaceful manner, and to avoid escalation”.
Hamas and Israel fought three wars since 2008.
The increased tensions at the fence between Gaza and Israel raised concerns that a fourth war could break out at any moment.
The escalation has pushed Egypt and the UN into hurried diplomacy in a bid to broker a long-term truce between the two sides.
Cairo mostly kept the Gaza border closed after the overthrow of Hamas-backed Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi in 2013