PA-Israeli agreement to close Al-Mintar crossing ..... another proof of collusion

[ 10/01/2011 - 02:16 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Senior officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed with Israelis during a meeting to close Al-Mintar commercial crossing (Karni) east of Gaza as of the end of this month and they signed an agreement in this regard.

The PA officials also accepted an Israeli proposal making Karam Abu Salem crossing southeast of Gaza the only terminal that would be opened every once in a while for commercial purposes.

The Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam quoted a high-level PA source as saying on condition of anonymity that a meeting in this regard was held by Palestinian and Israeli officials on December 27 in Dan hotel in Tel Aviv.

According to the newspaper, the meeting was attended by deputy head of the de facto PA economy ministry Abdulhafiz Nofal and other PA officials. The Israeli side was represented by coordinator of crossings' affairs Eitan Dangot and director of crossings Kamil Abu Rukn.


Abu Zuhri: PA-Israeli agreement on closure of Mintar another proof of collusion

[ 10/01/2011 - 02:59 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, has affirmed that the agreement between Israel and the PA in Ramallah on closing the Mintar (Karni) crossing aims at tightening the siege on the Gaza Strip.

He said in a press release on Monday that the Israeli decision to close all crossings with Gaza, leaving only Karm Abu Salem as the sole commercial crossing would only double the suffering of the Gaza populace.

The decision belies former Israeli declaration of easing the siege on Gaza, Abu Zuhri said, urging all international concerned parties to pressure Israel to retract the decision and to retain all crossings open to facilitate traffic of goods.

The spokesman charged that the agreement signed between Israel and Fatah-controlled PA provided yet another proof of that faction's collusion in the Gaza siege.

For his part, Hatem Uwaida, the director of economy minister's office in Gaza, told the PIC that the closure of all crossings except Karm Abu Salem would worsen the economic and living conditions in the Strip.

He said that Karm Abu Salem could not alone meet the needs of the Gaza inhabitants, pointing out that it could only handle 200 trucks per day.

He noted that the Mintar crossing was capable of handling 850 trucks daily including 750 incoming trucks and 100 outgoing trucks.

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