Israel closes crossing to Gaza workers after rockets

Israel says it will close its crossing to thousands of Gaza workers after a series of rockets were fired from the territory ruled by the militant Hamas group in recent daysBy JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated PressApril 23, 2022, 7:00 AM – 3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleJERUSALEM– Israel stated Saturday that it would close its crossing to thousands of Gaza employees after a series of rockets were fired from the territory ruled by the militant Hamas group in recent days.The rocket fire came amid near-daily clashes at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy website over the past week, with Palestinians tossing fireworks and stones and Israeli cops going into the compound and firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades.The violence in Jerusalem, and a string of lethal attacks inside Israel and raids across the occupied West Bank, have actually raised fears of another war in between Israel and Hamas like the one that broke out under comparable circumstances last year.Israel stated Palestinian militants fired two rockets late Friday, with one landing in an open area inside Israel and the other falling inside Gaza. “The re-opening of the crossing will be chosen appropriately with a security evaluation,” it said in a statement.In recent months, Israel had actually provided thousands of work permits to Palestinians from Gaza, which has been under a crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces nearly 15 years ago.Israel depicted the move as a goodwill gesture in order to maintain calm, however the permits– which can be revoked at any time– also give it a strong form of take advantage of over Palestinians. Israel grants allows to some 12,000 Palestinians in Gaza and over 100,000 to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, mainly for work in building and construction and other routine jobs.Israel caught east Jerusalem– which consists of significant holy websites spiritual to Jews, Christians and Muslims– along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 war.