With Kerem Shalom to reopen, US sets sites on re-entry of commercial goods into Gaza — officials tell ToI

After the cabinet voted earlier today to reopen its Kerem Shalom Crossing for humanitarian aid to be able to enter Gaza directly through Israel for the first time since the outbreak of the war, two US and Israeli officials tell The Times of Israel that the Biden administration has set its sites on its next ask from Israel: to allow commercial goods into the Strip.

Since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, only basic humanitarian goods have — food, water, medicine and fuel — have been entering Gaza.

The officials tell The Times of Israel that the US aims to get Gaza’s albeit limited economy up and running again after it effectively stopped operating on October 7.

Both the US and Israeli officials say that Jerusalem is currently resistant to the idea, but the US official expresses optimism that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will come around, as it did on reopening Kerem Shalom, allowing in fuel and allowing in humanitarian trucks from Egypt after initially rejecting all three requests.

“The Israelis understand that the more aid that gets in, the more time they’ll have to continue operations in Gaza,” the US official says.