Israel halts Gaza imports over ‘attempt to smuggle explosives’

Violence from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has surged and claimed the lives of at least 225 Palestinians so far this year. (AFP)

• Halevi ordered the halting of “commercial deliveries from Gaza to Israel, allowing security adjustments to be made at the crossing

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army chief on Monday ordered the suspension of all imports from Gaza after an alleged attempt to smuggle explosives, the army and defense ministry said in a statement.
Officers from the defense ministry, which controls crossings between Israel and the Palestinian enclave, “detected several kilograms of high quality explosives, hidden within a clothing delivery carried by three trucks” at the Kerem Shalom crossing, the statement said.
Army chief of staff Herzi Halevi, with approval from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, ordered the halting of “commercial deliveries from Gaza to Israel, allowing security adjustments to be made at the crossing.”
“Deliveries will resume in accordance with subsequent situation assessments,” it added.
The statement said Israel “will not allow terror organizations to take advantage of civilian and humanitarian facilities for terror purposes.”
The Gaza Strip has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since the Islamist group Hamas seized power there in 2007.
The Kerem Shalom crossing is the only point of entry for goods between the enclave and Israel.
Monday’s development comes amid raging tensions in the occupied West Bank.
Violence from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has surged and claimed the lives of at least 225 Palestinians so far this year.
At least 32 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have also been killed, according to an AFP tally based on official sources on both sides.
They include, on the Palestinian side, combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.