Israel seals off Gaza Strip

2008-07-01 17:08

Gaza City - Israel again sealed off the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday in retaliation for a rocket attack the previous day in breach of a truce in and around the impoverished Palestinian enclave.

Military authorities closed the three border crossing points that had been used mainly to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza since Israel imposed a blockade after the June 2007 bloody takeover by Hamas.

It wasn't immediately clear when border crossings would re-open.

"We'll review the situation at the end of the day and then take a decision," said Israeli military spokesperson Peter Lerner.

On Monday a rocket landed in an open field in southern Israel, causing no damage or casualties, according to Israeli police. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Border crossing closed

An Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas entails a gradual easing of the blockade, but the border crossings have been closed most days since June 19 in response to rocket attacks by Gaza militants.

"Nothing will stop our efforts to bring calm and ensure the security of the population in the south (of Israel) and to continue negotiations to achieve peace," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in the southern town of Kyriat Gat.

Hamas has insisted it is respecting the truce and trying to prevent other armed groups from firing rockets at southern Israel by vowing to arrest those responsible for the attacks.

Palestinians and UN officials have said Israeli soldiers had also violated the truce, firing shots across the border into Gaza several times, wounding at least two people.

Two wounded after rocket attacks

The army, despite witness comments, denies that it has shot any Palestinians since the truce came into affect, saying troops have only fired warning shots in the air which have not caused any casualties.

Meanwhile, two people were lightly wounded on June 24 when three rockets were fired at southern Israel. The attack was claimed by the Islamic Jihad movement, which later agreed to abide by the ceasefire.

Last Thursday a rocket fired by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group loosely linked to the Fatah movement of secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, hit near the Israeli town of Sderot.

Hamas briefly held the Brigades' spokesperson after the attack.

The Islamist rulers of Gaza say that, by keeping border crossings closed, Israel is not keeping to its part of the truce.

Sanctions exacerbating poverty

Israel claims it has always allowed enough supplies into Gaza to avert a humanitarian disaster, but international organisations say the sanctions have exacerbated poverty and destroyed the local economy.

On Tuesday, Egypt opened the Rafah border, the only Gaza crossing that bypasses Israel, to allow 350 Palestinians, including people in need of medical care, to leave the Gaza Strip, according to Hamas officials.

Hamas has sought the permanent re-opening of the Rafah border crossing as part of the truce agreement, but Israel has insisted the issue would only be addressed after progress is made in negotiations for the release of a soldier captured by Palestinian militants two years ago.

- AFP