San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Israel closes key crossing to Gaza, cites bomb threat
JERUSALEM — Israel said Saturday that it would close its border crossing to thousands of Gaza workers after a series of rockets were fired from the territory ruled by the militant Hamas group in recent days.
The Palestinians denounced the move as “collective punishment“of the impoverished territory’s 2 million residents, who have lived under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces nearly 15 years ago.
The rocket fire came amid near-daily clashes at the AlAqsa Mosque, a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site, over the past week, with Palestinians hurling stones and fireworks and Israeli police entering the compound and firing rubbercoated bullets and stun grenades.
The violence in Jerusalem, and a string of deadly attacks inside Israel and raids across the occupied West Bank, have raised fears of another war between Israel and Hamas like the one that broke out under similar circumstances last year.
Israel said Palestinian militants fired two rockets late Friday, with one landing in an open area inside Israel and the other falling inside Gaza. Palestinian media reported that two Gaza residents were wounded by the rocket that fell short. Another rocket was fired from Gaza early Saturday. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
The Israeli military body that coordinates civilian affairs in Gaza said the crossing
Hamas supporters march Friday in the Gaza Strip to show solidarity with Palestinians. Israeli officials said a series of rocket attacks required it to tighten access from Gaza.
used by workers would not be re-opened on Sunday, the start of the work week. “The reopening of the crossing will be decided accordingly with a security assessment,” it said in a statement.
In recent months, Israel had issued thousands of work permits to Palestinians from Gaza. Israel portrayed the move as a goodwill gesture in order to maintain calm, but
the permits — which can be revoked at any time — also give it a strong form of leverage over Palestinians. Israel grants permits to some 12,000 Palestinians in Gaza and more than 100,000 to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, mostly for work in construction and other menial jobs.
The Gaza workers union said the closure was “collective
punishment” and would hurt the already suffering economy, where unemployment hovers around 50%. It said the timing of the closure, just before the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, would compound the pain for families struggling to make ends meet.