GAZA CITY: Israel shut down Kerem Shalom, the main cargo crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday after Palestinians fired several mortar shells at the military posts in the area.
Ten mortar shells landed near the Kerem Shalom crossing east of Rafah city in the south of Gaza Strip but no injuries or damage were reported.
After the incident, Radio Israel reported that the Kerem Shalom crossing was sealed off. Palestinian official sources said between 86 and 96 trucks had been scheduled to deliver aid into Gaza, and one truck of carnations and two other trucks of strawberries were set to be exported through the same crossing, but Israel shut down the crossing.
Al-Nasr Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), claimed responsibility for the attacks. They said in a statement Thursday that the attack came in response to Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday that killed and wounded a number of its fighters. On Tuesday, a commander of the PRC was killed and four other fighters were wounded in an Israeli airstrike near Al-Qarara city in the southern of the Gaza Strip.
In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli warplanes dropped flyers in northern and southern Gaza Strip, warning residents to stay 300 meters away from an electric fence between Gaza and Israel. The leaflets warned the Palestinians against assisting in digging military tunnels under their homes, adding that those who cooperate with the resistance would be punished.
