Alwaght- For the 11th day in a row, Israeli regime continues to close the main pedestrian crossing to the Gaza Strip, Erez/Beit Hanoun, while the commercial Kerem Shalom/Karm Abu Salem crossing in the south is closed for the fourth consecutive day, exacerbating already difficult living conditions after more than 17 years of tight Israeli land, sea and air blockade.
WAFA correspondent said the closure of Beit Hanoun crossing for the 11th day made it difficult for workers and patients to leave the besieged sea enclave for work in Israel or treatment in West Bank or Jerusalem hospitals.
With the closure of the commercial Karm Abu Salem crossing, goods, including badly needed fuel, were not allowed into Gaza for the fourth straight day.
Maher Tabbaa, director general of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told WAFA that the financial losses incurred by workers as a result of the continuous closure of the Beit Hanoun crossing were estimated at about $16 million, which he said has affected the market and the purchase ability of the people.
Israel closed the crossings in a collective punishment move against the Gaza Strip’s impoverished two million population following the outbreak of protests at the border fence with Israel against the blockade and setters’ intrusions into Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Several people were killed and injured in the Israeli army crackdown on the daily protests.
