Wednesday, March 06, 2013

6-Mar-13: The goods crossing on Israel's Gaza border: A postscript from a Palestinian Arab source

Steel for building construction makes its way from Israel to Gaza.
We snapped this picture at Kerem Shalom six months ago.
While we await a clearer view of what has been happening at the Kerem Shalom crossing on Israel's Gaza border, here is a Palestinian Arab update from a non-Hamas source:
Israel reopens Gaza crossing  | Maan News | Published March 5, 2013 at 22:22 | GAZA CITY (Ma'an) - Israeli forces reopened the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing with Gaza on Tuesday, after a week-long closure, a Palestinian official said. Palestinian Authority official Raed Fattouh told Ma'an that the crossing will operate regularly on Tuesday, with 390 truckloads of goods set to enter Gaza and one truck of flowers to leave. Israel closed the commercial crossing last Tuesday after a rocket was fired from Gaza toward Ashkelon in southern Israel, but agreed to reopen it Monday. A dispute between Hamas and the company operating the crossing further delayed its opening. Officials in Gaza told Ma'an that Hamas dismissed the company in charge of the terminal after a dispute over the collection of customs revenue. The officials told Ma'an that Hamas wants to keep the taxes, which are usually paid to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Truck drivers at Kerem Shalom told Ma'an that rivalries over control of the crossing were impeding their work.
For background see our post from yesterday: "4-Mar-13: Trucks filled with food and essential goods are lined up outside Gaza. Would it surprise you to know the role that money plays in this?"

The terrorist leadership of Gaza's branch of the Moslem Brotherhood gains literally nothing from a situation in which its people have interrupted access to food, water and electricity. So the bottom line is that for now, hundreds more goods-laden trucks on a daily basis will continue to roll into Hamas-controlled Gaza, providing the residents there with the means to stay alive but only until the next Hamas-engineered interruption.

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