Israeli Authorities reopened the Mintar( Karni) Crossing Tuesday morning in order to allow the entrance of essential foodstuffs, mainly grains and vegetables, into the impoverished Gaza Strip — home to 1.2 million Palestinians, the most crowded place on earth.
Israel has closed the Karni crossing for most of the past two and a half months, saying that the closure was due to ‘security reasons’. The closure has caused a shortage of bread, dairy supplies and other essential goods in Gaza.
The Palestinians were hoping to bring into Gaza 100 trucks of food and medicine, about 20 of them carrying wheat, said the director-general of the Palestinian border authority, Salim Abu Safiah.
General Director of the Crossings Mr. Salim Abu Safyeh, reported that the crossing was reopened at 9am Tuesday, and was kept open until 5 pm, with only foodstuffs allowed to enter and no exports allowed to exit.
Israeli authorities had decided to temporarily open the crossing in one direction, from Israel to the Gaza Strip so as to supply the Strip with medicine and food.
The Israeli authorities had decided to open the crossing Monday but it was opened for forty minutes only.
The Kerem Shalom Crossing, in the southern Gaza Strip, was also opened for a brief period to allow food to enter from Egypt.
Analysts have noted that this type of Israeli manipulation of trade has created a population which, although willing to work, has become completely dependent on international aid. With most Palestinian workers living in Gaza having had jobs in Israel, the unemployment rate in some areas has reached over 80% due to the complete Israeli closure of the borders.
