United Nations sappers entered Gaza Wednesday morning to find and explode the duds remaining from last year's counter-terrorist IDF Operation Cast Lead.
The team entered under the authorization of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Terroritories (CoGAT), Maj.-Gen. Eitan Danot.
The Erez Crossing is the portal through which Palestinian Authority Arab residents of Gaza pass in order to travel to hospitals and other medical facilities in pre-1967 Israel and in PA areas of Judea and Samaria.
The UN bomb disposal team will be operating in Gaza for the next few months, “during which explosions may be heard in the area of Gaza,” according to the IDF Spokesperson's Office. “The activity's main goal is to prevent harm to Gaza's residents."
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi gave his approval yesterday for the UN team to enter Gaza via the Erez Crossing.
The chief of staff is currently in the United States, where he met Tuesday for an hour and a half with the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen. On Monday Ashkenazi met with U.S. Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman for talks on the nuclear threat from Iran, issues regarding Syria and Hizbullah, and strategic relations between Israel and the United States.