Israel reopens Gaza crossing after closure

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Israel reopened the Erez crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday after nearly two weeks of closure.

Keeping the crossing open “will be possible in accordance with situational assessments and the preservation of security stability,” Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians, known as COGAT, said in a statement.

The reopening of the terminal will allow around 12,000 Palestinian workers with permits to cross into Israel for work.

On May 3, Israel closed the Erez crossing along with other terminals amid growing tensions across the Palestinian territories over Israeli arrest campaigns in the West Bank and settler incursions into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

In March, the Israeli government said it would raise the number of work permits to Palestinians to 20,000, according to Israeli media.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar