Israel will close its only crossing through the Gaza Strip to traders and workers on Sunday after militants from the Palestinian enclave launched three rockets into its territory.
The decision to close the Erez crossing will affect thousands of Palestinians in this impoverished territory, which has been under Israeli blockade for more than 15 years. Israel controls all entry and exit from the enclave of 2.3 million people, both goods and people.
“The decision to reopen it will be taken after an assessment of the situation,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said.
Three rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on Friday night and early Saturday morning, hours after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters left more than 50 wounded on the Mosque Esplanade in Jerusalem, stage of strong tensions.
Since Monday (18), several rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip, controlled by the radical group Hamas, in the direction of Israel, causing Israeli air incursions against this enclave. The shots caused no casualties, and most of the projectiles were intercepted by the Israeli anti-missile shield.
These rocket attacks are the most serious since the bloody 11-day war between Hamas and the Israeli army in May 2021, in the wake of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in East Jerusalem that left hundreds of Palestinians injured.
If closing the Gaza border does not reduce rocket attacks, the Israeli military is ready to resume an offensive, Channel 12 reported on Saturday, adding that it is aware that retaliation could escalate into several days of fighting.
With Palestinian workers employed in Israel, Jerusalem hopes economic pressure will convince Hamas to crack down on rocket launches.
The number of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who can work in Israel rose to 12,000 last month, and the government said it would increase by another 8,000, for a total of 20,000.
