Israel closes key crossing for Gaza workers and traders

Israel closes key crossing for Gaza workers and traders

"Following the rockets fired toward Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip last night, it was decided that crossings into Israel for Gazan merchants and workers through the Erez Crossing will not be permitted this upcoming Sunday," said COGAT, a unit of the Israeli defence ministry responsible for Palestinian civil affairs. "The re-opening of the crossing will be decided in accordance with a security situational assessment," COGAT said. Employment in Israel is a lifeline for people in Gaza, where according to a recent World Bank report nearly half of the 2.3 million population is unemployed. There are currently 12,000 Gazans with permits to work in Israel, and the government recently announcing its intention to add another 8,000. I The Palestinians denounced the move as "collective punishment" of the impoverished territory's 2 million residents, who have lived under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces nearly 15 years ago. The Gaza workers union said the closure was "collective punishment” and would hurt the already suffering economy, where unemployment hovers around 50%. It said the timing of the closure, just before the Eid Al Fitr holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, would compound the pain