Israel Closes Karm Abu Salem Crossing

Friday December 30, 2011 13:02 by George Rishmawi - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli authorities temporarily close the Karm Abu Salem Crossing with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Security sources reported on Friday. The border crossing will re-open on Sunday.

Raed Fattuh, the Palestinian officer who is head of the committee supervising the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip, said that Israel opened the crossing for two days only, Wednesday and Thursday to allow some food supplies and construction material to enter into Gaza.

Karm Abu Salem, also known as Kerem Shalom terminal, is the only crossing through which goods can enter the besieged coastal region from Israel.

The siege on the Gaza Strip has been imposed since the summer of 2006, after Hamas won the parliamentary elections, and was tightened after the abduction of Israeli private Gilad Shalit in June of the same year. The siege was tightened further still after Hamas took over the whole of Gaza, in a military coop against Fatah in 2007.

gaza strip | gaza siege | news report george at imemc dot org