Last update - 00:00 24/06/2007
Israel to send supplies to Gaza through secondary crossings
By Reuters
Israel will use two small border passages, not the main Karni crossing into Gaza, to bring in basic supplies, officials said on Sunday.
They said the decision to use smaller crossings was based on security concerns in the wake of militant organization Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza over a week ago.
According to officials, around 3,000 tons of emergency food and medicine would enter the Gaza Strip via two small border passages during each of five weekdays.
They said the government believes this amount would avert a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished coastal strip, even without reopening the major Karni crossing.
Oxfam International Director Jeremy Hobbs said Karni's closure could cause a health disaster as it would prevent companies from bringing in water treatment equipment and chemicals.
Other aid groups said the plan may head off a food shortage, but cautioned that the closure of Karni would cripple Gaza's economy. Karni is the only functioning passage for Palestinian exports from the territory, which is home to some 1.5 million people.
Israel has boycotted Hamas in the Gaza Strip, while allowing funds and goods to flow to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' emergency administration in the occupied West Bank.
Gaza residents have been stocking up on essentials, in preparation for continued closure of the border crossings with Israel.
The fortified Karni crossing was implemented under U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's plan to revive the peace process after Israel pulled out of Gaza two years ago.
Citing security concerns and Israel's policy of boycotting Hamas, an official with Israel's Airports Authority, which oversees the crossings, said, "We don't see any reason at the moment to open Karni."
Instead, the official said, Israel plans to use the much smaller Kerem Shalom and Sufa crossings, both under direct Israeli control.
Under the Israeli aid plan, 3,000 tons of food and medicine, the equivalent of some 50 trucks carrying two loads each, will enter through Kerem Shalom and Sufa every Sunday to Thursday. On Fridays, 1,500 tons of supplies will cross into Gaza through Kerem Shalom.
"That's what we, together with the international organizations, understand the Gaza Strip needs. In the case that they need more, we will transfer more," the Airports Authority official said.
Israel will not deal with Hamas directly because the group has refused to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim peace deals with the Jewish state.
Israel controls the land crossings between Gaza and Israel, as well as Gaza's air space and territorial waters. Israel does not allow the crossing of people or goods by sea or air.