Israel revokes Gaza Palestinians entry permits granted for Ramadan
Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - In response to new rocket fire from Gaza, the second round in a week, the Israeli government has canceled some special permits granted to Palestinians for Ramadan.
During the night of 23 and 24 June rockets were launched from the Strip into southern Israel, causing no casualties or injuries. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, head of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), confirmed to Palestinian agency Maan that a ban on entry to Israel for residents of the Gaza Strip who want to attend the Friday prayers at the Temple Mount mosques is back in force.
The Israeli government decision, as the military leaders explain, is a response to rocket fire from Gaza. Previously the authorities had announced the granting of 500 temporary entry permits to residents - men and women - of the Strip, no older than 40.
The group were scheduled to cross the borders between the Gaza Strip and Israel today and tomorrow. However, the crossing point has been closed because "the necessary security conditions are lacking." Gen. Mordechai added that the rockets fell "not far from the Erez crossing" the border between Gaza and Israel. He added that next week the Israeli authorities would take into account new security conditions and will evaluate whether to grant new entry permits to Jerusalem.
Mordechai added that "Hamas is responsible the faithful not being able to attend prayers at the mosque of al-Aqsa during Ramadan." In fact, although Israeli authorities do not believe the radical Palestinian movement is directly responsible for the launches, they point out that it controls the territories is within its competence. " I am not saying that Hamas fired the missile, but Hamas is responsible because it controls the Gaza Strip - said the senior official.
Israel continues to support the theory of the internal clash between Islamist factions in Gaza and in Palestine. Yesterday Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that "once again we experienced the rocket fire from Gaza, and once again we have seen the internal conflict in the Gaza Strip [Gaza] between Hamas and Salafi groups loyal to the Islamic State" . He added that Israel was "forced" to cancel the permits, before an "untenable situation".
On June 21, Israel had already lifted a first time entry permit to their territory after the killing of an Israeli hiker in the occupied West Bank and the stabbing of a police officer in East Jerusalem. The government had also cancelled transit permits for 500 Palestinian citizens, who wanted to travel from Ben Gurion to go abroad.
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