Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Thursday ordered the Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza to remain closed pending a re-evaluation of the situation that will take place on Saturday night. According to Israel Radio, Mofaz decided to keep the Karni crossing closed despite earlier promises to open it indefinitely to humanitarian aid for Palestinian residents. The IDF had been expected to reopen the commercial terminal following mounting international pressure and warnings that food supplies in the Strip were dwindling and likely to run out.
Senior defense officials were to meet Thursday to discuss plans to open the crossing in light of warnings of terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip. "We had already informed the merchants that Karni would open," said Salim Abu Safiyeh, director-general of the Palestinian Border Authority. "The continued closure is causing humanitarian and economic harm to the Palestinian people, and threatening a real shortage in food supplies." The news Wednesday that Karni would open prompted Palestinian farmers to cancel plans to dump hundreds of tons of produce that has nearly spoiled while it waited at the crossing to be exported to Israel and Europe.
Israel closed the crossing for 21 days between January 15 and February 5. It was closed again on February 21 after a mysterious explosion in the area and has remained closed because of "continued security alerts," an IDF spokeswoman said.
But stocks of wheat, sugar and cooking oil are dwindling in Gaza and could begin to run out within two or three days unless Israel reopens the strip's main crossing point for goods, United Nations officials said on Wednesday. David Shearer, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said humanitarian conditions had deteriorated since the January 25 Palestinian election, which the Islamist militant group Hamas won by a landslide. The UN attributed the growing problems to Israel's closure of the Karni crossing and other security measures. "This is getting to precarious levels," Shearer told Reuters.
It does sound pretty dire and desperate for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip if this border crossing isn’t opened, but its from an article in the Jerusalem Newswire Service that one learns that Karni Crossing isn’t the only border available to the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority Tuesday rejected an Israeli offer to use an alternative exit point from the Gaza Strip for local agricultural goods after Israel was forced to close northern Gaza's Karni Crossing amid security concerns. Jerusalem agreed upon withdrawing from Gaza last summer to keep Karni open, but a failed attempt by terrorists to tunnel under and bomb the facility last month led to what is now a three-week closure.
Southern Gaza's smaller, more easily protected Kerem Shalom Terminal was proposed as a temporary substitute, which was promptly turned down by the Abbas regime.
Senior Israeli officials accused the PA of attempting to further tarnish the Jewish state's image at the expense of its own people, noting the politically-motivated decision will damage the Gaza economy and prevent the import of staple products.
Is there no end to the rationalizations for the forced suffering of the Palestinian people that the leadership of the PA won't utilize in its efforts to remain the world's foremost victims?
No comments:
Post a Comment