Gaza crossings open despite mortar fire

JERUSALEM – Israel agreed to an Egyptian request and opened its border crossings with the Gaza Strip yesterday despite Palestinian mortar fire that violated a three-week-old truce.

The request from Egypt was an attempt to prod forward the cease-fire, which was designed in part to ease Israel’s crushing blockade of the coastal strip. In so doing, Israel suggested it might stop automatically closing the crossings in response to every truce violation, like the mortar shell Palestinian militants fired on Monday.Hours after the crossings opened at noon, militants fired another shell into Israel, causing no casualties or damage, the Israeli military said.No Palestinian group immediately claimed responsibility for the fire, and Israel kept the crossings open.In all, 13 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza since the truce began.In response, Israel has kept the crossings closed about half of the time since the truce took effect June 19.Under the first phase of the cease-fire, Gaza militants were to halt their assaults on southern Israel, and Israel was to gradually allow more supplies to enter impoverished Gaza, home to 1,4 million Palestinians.For months, the crossings have been cracked open only for humanitarian shipments, in an effort to pressure militants to stop barraging southern Israel with rockets and mortars.The closures had led to widespread shortages of fuel, electricity and basic goods in Gaza.So far the truce has not eased conditions in Gaza because of the frequent closures.Should the truce take root, its final stage calls for stepped-up talks on opening a major Gaza border passage with Egypt and releasing an Israeli soldier Hamas has held for two years.Hamas officials were headed to Cairo yesterday to discuss opening the Gaza-Egypt passage.Egypt mediated the truce because Israel has no contacts with Hamas, which does not recognise the Jewish state’s right to exist.In related news, an explosion went off early yesterday at a Hamas military training camp in Gaza, killing two members of the Islamic militant group and wounding three, both health and Hamas officials said.Hamas’ military wing said in a statement that the two were killed while carrying out a “holy mission,” suggesting explosives were mishandled and went off prematurely.The Israeli military said it was not involved.While trying to cement a truce with militants in Gaza, Israel is also cracking down on Hamas operations in the West Bank.For a second straight day yesterday, the Israeli military ordered the shutdown of facilities it said were affiliated with Hamas in the West Bank town of Nablus.Nampa-APIn so doing, Israel suggested it might stop automatically closing the crossings in response to every truce violation, like the mortar shell Palestinian militants fired on Monday.Hours after the crossings opened at noon, militants fired another shell into Israel, causing no casualties or damage, the Israeli military said.No Palestinian group immediately claimed responsibility for the fire, and Israel kept the crossings open.In all, 13 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza since the truce began.In response, Israel has kept the crossings closed about half of the time since the truce took effect June 19.Under the first phase of the cease-fire, Gaza militants were to halt their assaults on southern Israel, and Israel was to gradually allow more supplies to enter impoverished Gaza, home to 1,4 million Palestinians.For months, the crossings have been cracked open only for humanitarian shipments, in an effort to pressure militants to stop barraging southern Israel with rockets and mortars.The closures had led to widespread shortages of fuel, electricity and basic goods in Gaza.So far the truce has not eased conditions in Gaza because of the frequent closures.Should the truce take root, its final stage calls for stepped-up talks on opening a major Gaza border passage with Egypt and releasing an Israeli soldier Hamas has held for two years.Hamas officials were headed to Cairo yesterday to discuss opening the Gaza-Egypt passage.Egypt mediated the truce because Israel has no contacts with Hamas, which does not recognise the Jewish state’s right to exist.In related news, an explosion went off early yesterday at a Hamas military training camp in Gaza, killing two members of the Islamic militant group and wounding three, both health and Hamas officials said.Hamas’ military wing said in a statement that the two were killed while carrying out a “holy mission,” suggesting explosives were mishandled and went off prematurely.The Israeli military said it was not involved.While trying to cement a truce with militants in Gaza, Israel is also cracking down on Hamas operations in the West Bank.For a second straight day yesterday, the Israeli military ordered the shutdown of facilities it said were affiliated with Hamas in the West Bank town of Nablus.Nampa-AP