Sufa crossing (Archive photo)
Photo: AFP
Israel to keep Gaza crossings closed Tuesday due to Qassam fire
Barak orders security establishment to keep crossings closed due to ceasefire violation. 'If needed we'll respond differently to breaches,' official says
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the security establishment to close most of the Gaza crossings on Tuesday for the transfer of goods into the Strip following Monday evening's Qassam rocket attack on the Negev.
Therefore, the Sufa crossing on the southern end of the Israel Gaza border, through which dozens of trucks loaded with equipment pass into Gaza, will remain closed, as will the Nahal Oz fuel terminal and the Karni crossing.
The Erez crossing will remain open for the passage of Palestinian in humanitarian cases only.
Security officials said the move sends a clear message to Hamas that Israel will not ignore the repeated ceasefire violations.
"Currently we are responding (to the violations) by closing the crossings, but if needed we'll respond in a different manner," one official said.
Israel has blocked the transfer of goods a number of times since the ceasefire between Israel and the armed Palestinian terror groups in Gaza went into effect a week-and-a-half ago.
According to the original truce deal brokered by Egypt Israel was supposed to begin increasing the amount of goods transferred to the coastal enclave last Sunday, but the firing of several rockets toward the Negev region last week resulted in the closure of the crossings for two consecutive days, until they were reopened this week.
"We would have lived up to our commitments had the ceasefire been upheld, but Hamas chose to violate it," one security official said.
A military source said, "The ceasefire was seen as a fragile one from the get-go; it's clear that closing the crossings adds to the tension."
