Israel announced on Saturday, April 23, its intention to ban Palestinians from Gaza from working on its territory from Sunday, a retaliatory measure decided after the firing of new rockets from the enclave.
This decision to close the Erez crossing, the only one for the movement of people between the Gaza Strip and Israel, will affect thousands of Palestinians in the poor enclave subjected to an Israeli blockade for more than 15 years. Apart from the Rafah crossing point between the south of this micro-territory of approximately 2.3 million inhabitants and Egypt, Israel controls all entries and exits from the enclave.
“Following the rocket fire (Friday), Gaza traders and workers will not be allowed to cross the Erez crossing on Sunday. The decision to reopen it will be taken after an assessment of the security situation,” said Cogat, the body of the Israeli Ministry of Defense which oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian Territories.
Reprisal air raids
Friday evening and Saturday, three rockets were launched from Gaza, controlled by the Islamists of Hamas, towards the south of Israel. Since Monday, several rockets have been fired but they have not caused casualties and most have been intercepted by the Israeli missile shield. The previous shootings prompted retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on the enclave, where no casualties were reported.
At the end of March, Israel said it was increasing from 12,000 to 20,000 the number of work permits granted to Palestinians in Gaza, who work mainly in the construction and agricultural sectors and receive wages five times higher than what they would win in Gaza. The rocket attacks of the past few days have been the largest since the 11-day war between Hamas and the Israeli army in May 2021 after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in East Jerusalem which left hundreds of Palestinians injured.