Israel eases restrictions on commercial crossing with Gaza

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Israel on Wednesday eased restrictions on a commercial border crossing point and expanded fishing area in the sea of Gaza from three to nine nautical miles, officials said.

Israel will allow 700 trucks carrying construction materials, fuel, food, commercial and industrial products to pass through, said Ra'ed Fattouh, a Palestinian official in charge of coordinating the shipment of goods through the crossing of Kerem Shalom on the border between Israel and southeast Gaza Strip.

He added that the Israeli authorities will allow the shipment of other various kinds of products to the Gaza Strip, which have been banned since last September.

A truck carrying goods to Palestinians arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, August 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed more than one month ago to shut down Kerem Shalom commercial crossing for all kinds of products except basic needs of food and medicine for more than two million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli decision to tighten its measures at the crossing points between the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave and Israel aimed at putting pressure on Hamas and other Palestinian activists to stop releasing arson kites and balloons into southern Israel, which caused severe damages.

Jamal al-Khudari, an independent Palestinian lawmaker and chairman of the committee to defy the Israeli siege, said the Israeli decision of easing restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip "is not enough."

"Easing tight and unfair restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip doesn't mean a complete lifting of the Israel siege which has been imposed on the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007," said Khudari in a press statement emailed to reporters.

Khudari stated that around 95 percent of industries in the Gaza Strip had completely stopped after Israel banned raw materials for more than a month, causing severe damage to the weak economy there.

Fishing boats are seen at the seaport of Gaza City, August 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

Meanwhile, Nizar Ayyash, chairman of the Gaza Fishermen Association, told reporters that Israel informed the Palestinian liaison that the Israeli army decided to expand the allowed area for Palestinian fishermen to fish from three nautical miles to nine.

Egypt and United Nations Special envoy Nicolai Mladenov have been mediating a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas-led militant groups in Gaza following weeks of military escalation between the two sides.

(Top image: Boxes of fish are displayed for sale at a market in Gaza City, August 15, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency