SAN FRANCISCO, December 14, (THEWILL) – Israel, on Thursday, announced the closure of its Gaza Border Crossings in response to daily rocket fire from the enclave over the past week after U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital stoked Palestinian anger.
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Israel’s military said two of the rockets fired by militants were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system and a third exploded in an open area.
“Due to the security events and in accordance with security assessments, Kerem Shalom crossing, the main passage point for goods entering the Gaza Strip, and the Erez pedestrian crossing, would be shut as of Thursday,” the military said in a statement that
It did not say how long the closure would last.
Some 15 rockets have been reportedly fired into southern Israel since Trump’s Dec. 6 announcement.
The attacks have drawn Israeli air strikes that have killed two Hamas gunmen while two other Palestinians have been killed in confrontations with Israeli troops during stone-throwing protests along the border.
Israeli cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi said on Israel Radio that while Hamas, which last fought a war with Israel in 2014, was not carrying out the rocket strikes, it needed to rein in militants from ‘breakaway groups’ or it would ‘find itself in a situation where it has to contend’ with the Israeli military.
