Israel partially opens Gaza border after 6 day closure

GAZA CITY 

Israel on Thursday partially reopened the Karam Abu Salem commercial crossing with the southern Gaza Strip following an almost weeklong closure, a Palestinian border official has said.

"Israeli authorities partially reopened the Karam Abu Salem crossing on Thursday morning to allow in limited shipments of fuel, medicine, dairy products and animal feed," Mounir al-Ghalban of Gaza's border authority told Anadolu Agency.

The crossing remains closed, however, to commercial and industrial goods, al-Ghalban said.

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.

Over the past week, Karam Abu Salem's prolonged closure led to a fuel crisis inside the blockaded Gaza Strip.

"The closure of the border halts commercial activity and negatively impacts Gaza's already-ailing economic and humanitarian situation," al-Ghalban said.

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