GAZA: Israel reopened border crossings with the Gaza Strip yesterday, a day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Hamas fighters to stop firing rockets or pay a heavy price.
Despite the movement of aid, about a dozen rockets and mortar bombs were fired from Gaza at Israel yesterday. One fell short and struck a Gaza house, killing two Palestinian sisters, aged five and 13, and wounding a third, medics said.
An Israeli military spokesman said the Erez border crossing, the main passage for people between Israel and Gaza, was closed after two mortar bombs fell in the area.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he ordered Gaza crossings opened for essential humanitarian supplies in response to numerous requests from the international community.
The deliveries could ease tensions that might have led to military action to end rocket attacks, though in the past Israel has allowed Gaza to re-supply with vital goods before launching assaults.
Palestinian workers at the crossings said fuel had arrived for Gaza’s main power plant where shortages mean periodic blackouts for many of the 1.5 million residents.
Raed Fattouh, coordinator of supplies, said about 100 trucks loaded with grain, humanitarian aid and goods for the private sector were due to come in to Gaza during the day, including a convoy from Egypt.
Israel also let a Palestinian man go to an Israeli hospital for treatment for an injury after a Palestinian rocket struck his home in Gaza earlier this week, medics and officials said.
Gaza, an impoverished coastal enclave, has been under an Israeli blockade since Hamas took control in 2007. In renewed fighting since a six-month truce expired last week, at least six Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and dozens of rockets and mortar shells from Gaza have slammed into Israel, damaging homes and causing panic.
Israel’s Cabinet planned to debate tomorrow a decision by a security panel to hit back at Gaza fighters, beginning with airstrikes on Hamas targets, political sources said. Israel withdrew its forces and occupiers from Gaza in 2005 and Olmert has said he does not wish to re-occupy the coastal strip. A military offensive could involve ground combat, which is likely to result in high casualties.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni discussed the crisis on Thursday with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. Mubarak urged restraint on both sides.
