JERUSALEM: Israel will partially reopen its only goods crossing with the blockaded Gaza Strip later Tuesday, a minister said, after closing it July 9 over border tensions and kites carrying firebombs to burn Israeli farmland.
“Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided that Kerem Shalom will partially reopen and as of today at 12:00 p.m. (0900 GMT) it will be possible to transfer gas and fuel into the Gaza Strip, in addition to food and medicine,” Lieberman’s office said.
The statement noted that the number of kites and balloons carrying firebombs into Israeli territory had been reduced but not totally eliminated.
It said the crossing could return to full activity soon “conditioned on the full cessation of fire-balloon launches and friction on the fence.”
Israel says the devices have sparked hundreds of fires since April and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
Palestinians in Gaza see the kites and balloons as legitimate resistance against Israel’s more than 10-year blockade.
The partial reopening follows urgent warnings from United Nations officials that emergency fuel supplies are running low in the Gaza Strip and that the shortage is starting to affect hospitals and water sanitation.
The coastal enclave suffers from a severe lack of electricity and relies on fuel-powered generators during outages that last hours at a time.
Israel and Hamas, the militant movement that runs the Gaza Strip, reached a cease-fire at the weekend following a major flare-up of violence on Friday.
Israel had carried out a wave of air strikes killing three Hamas militants after one of its soldiers was shot dead along the Gaza border.
There have been months of tension along the border, where mass protests and clashes began on March 30 and have continued at varying levels since then.
Hamas and Israel have fought three wars since 2008.
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Israel’s only goods crossing with Gaza to partially reopen
Israel’s only goods crossing with Gaza to partially reopen
- The partial reopening follows urgent warnings from UN officials that emergency fuel supplies are running low in the Gaza Strip
- Hamas and Israel have fought three wars since 2008
Syria Kurds impose curfew in Qamishli ahead of govt forces entry
QAMISHLI: Kurdish forces imposed a curfew on Kurdish-majority Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, ahead of the deployment of government troops to the city, an AFP team reported.
The curfew came after Syrian security personnel entered the mixed Kurdish-Arab city of Hasakah and the countryside around the Kurdish town of Kobani on Monday, as part of a comprehensive agreement to gradually integrate the Kurds’ military and civilian institutions into the state.
The Kurds had ceded territory to advancing government forces in recent weeks.
An AFP correspondent saw Kurdish security forces deployed in Qamishli and found the streets empty of civilians and shops closed after the curfew came into effect early on Tuesday.
It will remain in force until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday.
The government convoy is expected to enter the city later on Tuesday and will include a limited number of forces and vehicles, according to Marwan Al-Ali, the Damascus-appointed head of internal security in Hasakah province.
The integration of Kurdish security forces into the interior ministry’s ranks will follow, he added.
Friday’s deal “seeks to unify Syrian territory,” including Kurdish areas, while also maintaining an ongoing ceasefire and introducing the “gradual integration” of Kurdish forces and administrative institutions, according to the text of the agreement.
It was a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve the de facto autonomy they exercised after seizing vast areas of north and northeast Syria in battles against Daesh during the civil war, backed by a US-led coalition.
Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had previously said the deal would be implemented on the ground from Monday, with both sides to pull forces back from frontline positions in parts of the northeast, and from Kobani in the north.
He added that a “limited internal security force” would enter parts of Hasakah and Qamishli, but that “no military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town.”
The curfew came after Syrian security personnel entered the mixed Kurdish-Arab city of Hasakah and the countryside around the Kurdish town of Kobani on Monday, as part of a comprehensive agreement to gradually integrate the Kurds’ military and civilian institutions into the state.
The Kurds had ceded territory to advancing government forces in recent weeks.
An AFP correspondent saw Kurdish security forces deployed in Qamishli and found the streets empty of civilians and shops closed after the curfew came into effect early on Tuesday.
It will remain in force until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday.
The government convoy is expected to enter the city later on Tuesday and will include a limited number of forces and vehicles, according to Marwan Al-Ali, the Damascus-appointed head of internal security in Hasakah province.
The integration of Kurdish security forces into the interior ministry’s ranks will follow, he added.
Friday’s deal “seeks to unify Syrian territory,” including Kurdish areas, while also maintaining an ongoing ceasefire and introducing the “gradual integration” of Kurdish forces and administrative institutions, according to the text of the agreement.
It was a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve the de facto autonomy they exercised after seizing vast areas of north and northeast Syria in battles against Daesh during the civil war, backed by a US-led coalition.
Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had previously said the deal would be implemented on the ground from Monday, with both sides to pull forces back from frontline positions in parts of the northeast, and from Kobani in the north.
He added that a “limited internal security force” would enter parts of Hasakah and Qamishli, but that “no military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town.”
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