First Two Gaza Crossings Reopen

Source: Alalam.ir, 22-06-2006

GAZA--The Zionist regime reopened at 9 am local time Sunday the Sufa and Nahal Oz crossings and let basic food supplies go through to the Gaza population and a third crossing point would be opened soon, Palestinian security sources said.

‘Israel' opened two crossing points into the Gaza Strip Sunday, three days after a six-month truce with Palestinian fighters in the salient went into effect.

The opening of the crossing points is one of the provisions of the truce, which began Thursday at 0300 GMT and ended months of violence between the sides.

The Israeli regime increased the trickle of badly needed goods flowing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a military spokesman said, in the latest stage of a four-day-old truce with Hamas fighters.
A total of 90 trucks would enter Gaza through the Sufa crossing during the day, up from between 60 to 70 before the truce went into effect, said spokesman 2nd Lt. Gil Karie. Further increases will be weighed if the quiet continues, he said.

Ihab Ghussen, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza, said the increase was in keeping with the terms of the cease-fire brokered by Egypt.

The goods include milk, fruits and vegetables and other food products. Other goods, like cement, are supposed to be allowed in 10 days after the beginning of the truce, Ghussen said.
But the amount of fuel sent into Gaza remained unchanged Sunday.

In agreeing to the truce, ‘Israel' dropped an earlier demand that any deal include the release of an ‘Israeli' soldier that Hamas is holding. Hamas fighters seized Cpl. Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid in 2006.

A deal on a prisoner swap that would see Shalit released in return for hundreds of Palestinians has stalled, mainly because of disagreements over which imprisoned fighters ‘Israel' would free.

The Popular Resistance Committees, one of the three resistance groups that captured Shalit, criticized the family's court challenge, saying the truce had improved the chances he would be freed.

"The calm is a good factor that might help to get his son out," said Abu Mujahid, a spokesman for the group.