Israel will reopen crossing the Gaza Strip if calm prevails

A truck is seen at the gate of Kerem Shalom crossing , main crossing point On July 17, 2018, Israel will reopen its only pbad of goods with the Gaza Strip blocked if calm reigns following a ceasefire, said a minister after it closed on July 9th.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, warned separately that the military was prepared to carry out much more intense strikes in the Gaza Strip if they deemed it necessary after a violent outbreak of violence on Friday.

UN officials said Gaza's bank was facing severe fuel shortages affecting hospitals and water and sanitation facilities calling for restraint

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke on Sunday of the reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossroads. "If today and tomorrow the situation continues like yesterday, then on Tuesday we will let Kerem Shalom return to normal activity and the fishing areas will return to the same distances as before," he said.

crossing, pointed out that calm also meant the end of the months of kites and balloons carrying incendiary bombs over the border fence of the Palestinian enclave led by the Islamist Hamas movement to burn Israeli agricultural land.

Firebombs since April.

Lieberman said "the key is calm, calm, zero incendiary bombs, zero friction on the fence and zero rockets or, God forbid, shooting."

A spokesman Israeli fire services said there were no fires caused by gears along the Gaza border Saturday and Sunday. Lieberman and Netanyahu's comments came after a ceasefire was reached following an outbreak of violence between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel on Friday. 19659005] The escalation – the second in as many weeks – followed months of tension that raised fears that a fourth war could break out between Hamas and Israel in 2008.

The ceasefire -Fire followed a wave of deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza triggered by the death of an Israeli soldier shot near the border.

Since the end of the ceasefire, calm prevails at the Gaza border.

"On the weekend, we dealt a severe blow to Hamas.Israel announced on July 9 that the pbadage of goods was closed to most deliveries partly in response to incendiary bombs and other incidents along the way. border fence, 19659005] On July 17, he further tightened restrictions to prevent fuel deliveries while reducing the fishing area Israel imposes off Gaza to three nautical miles from six.

pbadage remained open for food and medicine on a case by case basis.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian Territories, Jamie McGoldrick, said Sunday that "emergency fuel supplies provided by the The United Nations for critical facilities in Gaza are quickly exhausted. "

He called on Israel to end fuel restrictions Imports and savvy hospitals could soon t be forced to close their doors and emergency reserves would deplete in early August.

"Given the power cuts of about 20 hours a day, if the fuel does not arrive immediately, life, with the most vulnerable patients, such as heart patients, dialysis patients and neonates in intensive care, the most at risk, "he said in a statement.

Gaza suffers from severe electricity shortage

Mbad demonstrations and clashes erupted on the Gaza border on March 30 and have continued at varying levels since then.

At least 149 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire since 30 March. Friday was the first Israeli killed in this period.

The only other goods pbadage from Gaza is with Egypt. It has been closed for the most part in recent years, but Egypt opened it in mid-May and the crossing, known as Rafah, has remained open most of the time since then.