From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 2, 2016
Israel reopens Erez crossing to Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announces the reopening of one of the main crossing points into the Palestinian Gaza Strip, which has been closed for at least eight years.
“It is in our interests that a significant amount of truckloads of food continues to go to Gaza,” he says in a statement. “It is our interest that Gazans live in dignity. Both from a humanitarian point of view and because this is a way to protect the peace, in addition to existing security deterrents.”
Ya’alon also says there is a need to ease congestion at the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, currently the only conduit for goods between Israel and the Gaza Strip. He says that “at least half of what currently goes via Kerem Shalom” will be redirected to Erez.
The Erez crossing was closed to the passage of goods in 2008.
— AFP
The Times of Israel Community.