Israel Opened A Gaza Crossing

Israel reopened the main crossing to the Gaza strip on Monday in order to allow the delivery of food, but closed it just after half an hour. Around 10 vehicles carrying food supplies were able to enter the Strip, but no trucks carrying exports have left.

Considering that the food stocks are running low in Gaza, Richard H. Jones, the United States ambassador in Israel, arranged on Sunday night talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Israel agreeing to allow food supplies on Monday.

"The shortage of basic foodstuffs was weighed against the terror threat, and the logical decision to open it for a limited amount of time was made with the hope the Palestinians will uphold their commitments," said Amos Gilad, a Defense Ministry official.

Shortly after this assertion, Karni was again closed. According to military officials, there were security alerts, but no further information was provided.

Gaza is home to about 1.5 million Palestinians. Since January, 500 trucks entered the region, while only 50 were allowed to leave. When Israel shut Karni for three weeks in the middle of January, the military said it had information that Palestinians were digging a tunnel to attack Karni, the Palestinian declaring that they have not found any trace of this tunnel.

Israeli officials cast the blame on Palestinian officials for this situation, who declined an offer to use a second crossing near the Egyptian border rather than at Karni. They fear that this decision will lead to the redirection of all future traffic to the smaller Kerem Shalom crossing.