Israel has blocked fuel and gas transfers to the Gaza Strip until Sunday in retaliation for “continued terrorist attempts by the Hamas terrorist group,” Israel’s Defence Ministry confirmed Tuesday.
The ministry said the Kerem Shalom crossing, which was already shuttered to commercial trade last week, was closed to gas and fuel transfers on Monday but will remain open for food and medicine deliveries.
The closure will exacerbate the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip – home to around 2 million Palestinians – which already faces severe shortages of fuel, electricity and water.
Israel is attempting to pressure the Islamist militant group, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, to stop a wave of incendiary balloons and kites that have burned more than two dozen kilometres of Israeli land.
A Gaza fishing zone, a key source of income for a few thousand fisherman, will be reduced from six nautical miles to three, the ministry added.
Over the weekend Hamas and Israel exchanged heavy fire, with Israel saying more than 200 rockets and mortar shells were fired since Friday night.
Hamas is also leading protests along the Gaza border in which over 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in recent months.
Israel says the Islamist group is using the demonstrations as a cover to carry out attacks on Israeli border communities.
Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade of the coastal enclave since Hamas seized control in 2007. (AFP)
