After renewed rocket fire
Israel closes border crossing with Gaza Strip
04/23/2022, 09:48 am
Israel blocked the northern access to the Gaza Strip for traders and workers on Sunday. This is the civilian administration’s response to renewed rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. It is said that when the Erez border crossing will reopen depends on the security situation.
After renewed rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, Israel has announced the closure of the only border crossing for workers from the Palestinian coastal area. A decision had been made “not to allow entry into Israel for traders and workers from the Gaza Strip via the Erez crossing on Sunday,” said the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration Cogat. The reopening of the crossing will be decided depending on the security situation.
Militant Palestinians fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel on Friday evening. According to the Israeli army, one of the shells fell on a field in Israel near the border fence to the northern Gaza Strip. Another rocket hit within the Gaza Strip.
Several rockets had already been fired at Israel from the coastal area controlled by the radical Islamic group Hamas this week. There were no casualties in the attacks, most of the projectiles were intercepted by the Israeli anti-missile system “Iron Dome”. After the first two rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, Israel’s army responded with airstrikes in the Palestinian coastal area and, according to its own statements, hit an underground rocket factory.
More clashes lately
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians had recently increased. The situation was particularly tense in Jerusalem, where dozens of people were injured in renewed clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli police on Friday.
It is feared that the tensions could further escalate the Middle East conflict. Last year, unrest in Jerusalem resulted in an 11-day armed conflict between Gaza’s radical Islamist group Hamas and the Israeli army, during which more than 250 people were killed.