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Israel reopens Gaza Strip border closed since rocket attack

Israel reopened border crossings to the Gaza Strip yesterday after closing them more than a week earlier when a rocket was fired from the Hamas-ruled territory in defiance of a two-week-old truce.

“The Sufa, Nahal Oz and Erez crossings are open for the passage of goods, including cement and fuel, as well as basic goods,” Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said.

He said the Erez pedestrian crossing would also be open for urgent medical cases requiring treatment in Israel.

Israel reopened the crossings because there had been no further rockets or mortars launched at southern Israel since an attack on Thursday in defiance of a truce that took effect on June 19, Lerner said.

Several rockets and mortar rounds have been fired at Israel from Gaza since the truce between Israel and the territory’s Hamas rulers began.

The ceasefire was supposed to lead to the easing of a crippling blockade Israel imposed more than a year ago when the Islamist movement seized power in Gaza, but the crossings have since been closed on several occasions.

Hamas on Friday said it was suspending talks over the release of an Israeli soldier captured in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006 because of the closures, which it said was a violation of the Egyptian-brokered truce.

Israel’s Maariv newspaper quoted security officials yesterday as saying they hoped that the reopening of the crossings would encourage Hamas to renew negotiations aimed at a prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit, the captured reservist.

The Islamist movement has demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel in exchange for Shalit, including about 450 people serving long sentences.

The proposed list is believed to include several Palestinian fighters convicted of carrying out deadly attacks on Israelis.

Hamas has meanwhile insisted that its own fighters are respecting the truce and has vowed to arrest anyone who violates it.
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