Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced Sunday that Israel will reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing with Gaza if the ‘calm’ continues in southern Israel.
“If today and tomorrow the situation continues as it was yesterday, then on Tuesday we will allow Kerem Shalom to return to normal activity and the fishing zones will return to the same distances as before,” Liberman told reporters.
However, the defense minister specified that the “calm” also meant there must be an end to the arson attacks perpetrated by Gaza terrorists flying incendiary kites and balloons over the border into southern Israel. The attacks have caused more than 1,000 fires in forest, park and farmland in the south since March, destroying nearly 8,000 acres of land and causing well over $2 million in damage to agricultural and industrial equipment.
Despite the “ceasefire” with Gaza, however, by Sunday morning Gaza terrorists had flown at least 44 incendiary balloons into Israel and ignited at least eight fires, according to a report published by the military Hebrew-language 0404 website.
The IDF closed the Kerem Shalom crossing on July 9 for the movement of commercial goods in and out of Gaza, in response to the incessant arson attacks against southern Israel emanating from the enclave.
On July 17, Liberman closed Kerem Shalom for shipments of fuel and gas as well, due to the continued attacks on Israel by Hamas.
Egypt announced shortly thereafter that the Rafah crossing — the sole crossing between Gaza and Egypt — would also remain closed, albeit for “technical reasons.”
Throughout all the closures, however, Kerem Shalom remained active for deliveries of food and medicine.