Middle East Crisis !Israel reopens crossing with Gaza for fuel supplies

GAZA, March 16 (Xinhua): Israel reopened its commercial crossing with Gaza on Sunday after a three-day halt to allow fuel into the enclave, a Palestinian official said.

Middle East Crisis !Israel reopens crossing with Gaza for fuel supplies

The official said that Israel has reopened the Kerem Shalom with Gaza and started to transfer cooking gas, gasoline and industrial fuel for Gaza’s idle power plant.

The crossing was opened only one day after Hamas-run Energy Authority announced that Gaza’s sole power plant has stopped working due to lack of fuel caused by closure of the terminal.

But the official said that Israel has barred transfer of other basic supplies and commodities. Israel closed Kerem Shalom crossing on Thursday after Gaza militants fired a volley of rockets last week before a de-facto ceasefire was restored.

The terminal is now the only entrance for basic supplies into Gaza, as Egypt has shut down hundreds of smuggling tunnels under its border with Gaza that were used to bring in fuel and other supplies. Israel regularly has shut down the crossing in response to rocket attacks from Gaza militants.