Hamas accuses Egypt of turning Gaza into a "big prison" due to closure of the Rafah crossing, destruction of tunnels.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHTrucks at the Kerem Shalom Crossing in Gaza 390 (R)(photo credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters)
Some 285 truckloads containing a variety of goods and 150 tons of gas were delivered from Israel to the Gaza Strip on Monday.The trucks were delivered through Kerem Shalom Crossing under the Coordination and Liaison Administration in Gaza.Hamas, meanwhile, accused the Egyptians of turning the Gaza Strip into a “big prison” because of the continued closure of the Rafah border crossing and the destruction of most of the smuggling tunnels.Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas representative, said that Egyptian restrictions and security measures have reduced the number of travelers through the Rafah terminal from 1,200 to fewer than 200 per day.Palestinians said the trucks that entered the Gaza Strip on Monday also carried construction material.The number of foreign delegations visiting the Gaza Strip has dropped significantly since the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.During July, only two foreign delegations entered the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled Foreign Ministry.By contrast, more than 180 delegations visited the Gaza Strip in the first six months of this year, the ministry said.Hamas officials said that the closure of the Rafah border crossing by the Egyptian authorities was the main reason behind the sharp decrease in the number of visitors to the Strip.On Sunday, Israel allowed two Turkish delegations to enter the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing border.
The delegations consisted of workers from the Turkish Red Crescent, the equivalent of Magen David Adom.Last weekend, Egyptian sources revealed that Egypt’s new rulers refused to allow Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to visit the Gaza Strip.A report in an Egyptian media outlet claimed that Erdogan’s planned visit to the Gaza Strip was canceled over his support for Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
