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Israel is blocking the entry of around 2000 aid trucks into the besieged Gaza Strip due to the ongoing closure of the Karam Abu Salem commercial crossing, a Gazan lawmaker said Thursday.
"The trucks are loaded with agricultural, industrial and commercial goods, as well as construction materials," Gamal al-Khodari, who also heads the Popular Committee against the Siege, a Palestinian NGO, said in a Thursday press statement.
Earlier Thursday, Israel partially reopened the commercial crossing with the southern Gaza Strip following an almost weeklong closure, Mounir al-Ghalban of Gaza's border authority told Anadolu Agency.
The crossing remains closed, however, to commercial and industrial goods, al-Ghalban said.
"Thursday's partial reopening of the crossing has done little to ease the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza," al-Khodari asserted.
Last Friday, Israel closed two cargo terminals with the Gaza Strip for the Jewish Passover holidays. While Israeli authorities had said the crossings would be reopened on Tuesday, Karam Abu Salem had remained closed.
Karam Abu Salem's prolonged closure over the past week has led to a fuel crisis inside the blockaded strip.
With Egypt maintaining its ongoing closure of the Rafah border crossing, Karam Abu Salem remains the hapless Palestinian enclave's only functioning commercial crossing.
Home to roughly 1.8 million people, the Gaza Strip has six border crossings with Israel and one with Egypt.
Since Palestinian resistance faction Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007, Israel has closed four of its Gaza crossings, leaving only the Karam Abu Salem and Erez crossings open to limited traffic.
By Ola Atallah
englishnews@aa.com.tr - Gazze
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