Late on Tuesday March 26, the Israeli army informed that Palestinian District Coordination Office that the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and the Beit Hanounn (Erez) border terminals with Gaza are closed until further notice.The army did not specify a reason for the sudden closure but only said, “Only certain humanitarian cases will be allowed through after coordination and approval”.
Last week, Israel briefly closed the Karem Abu Salem crossing after claiming that Palestinian fighters fired a shell at an Israeli settlement across the border.
Also last week, Israel decided to reduce the fishing zone allotted to Palestinian fishermen in Gaza from six nautical miles to three in direct violation of last year’s ceasefire agreement of November 2012.
Under the Oslo accords in the mid-nineties, the Palestinians are allowed to fish in 20 nautical miles off the Gaza shore, but in 2008, Israel unilaterally reduced the fishing area to three nautical miles, that were later increased to six.
