Cement trucks pass through Kerem Shalom
Cement trucks pass through Kerem ShalomFlash 90

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Saturday night ordered that the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza be re-opened for the passage of goods as of Sunday morning.

The crossing had been closed since Tuesday after Gaza terrorists fatally shot an IDF civilian worker.

Kerem Shalom is the crossing through which humanitarian aid and other supplies enter Gaza, contrary to Hamas claims that Israel is imposing a “siege” on the region.

Most recently, a diesel delivery paid for by the Palestinian Authority with Qatari funds went through the Kerem Shalom crossing. The diesel was used to power up the lone Gazan power station.

Gaza has struggled with massive flooding caused by recent winter downpours, though Gazans had already been suffering from power outages since November, when the Hamas government shut down Gaza’s power plant, causing a pump station to flood and sewage to seep into the Mediterranean Sea.

Yaalon’s directive to re-open Kerem Shalom comes after the Gazan power plant ground to a halt again on Friday. Gaza’s electrical firm was quick to blame “Israel's closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing" for the plant running out of fuel and shutting down.

Several weeks ago, it appeared as though Gaza really was under siege, but an Egyptian one and not an Israeli one as Hamas claims.

Since the Hamas-friendly Egyptian government of Mohammed Morsi was toppled in July, Egypt's military has destroyed hundreds of the tunnels leading into Gaza, sending Gaza's economy on a steep downward spiral.