Israel Partially Reopens Gaza’s Commercial Crossing

Trucks carrying fuel for the Gaza Strip enter Rafah through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2014. (File Photo: AFP Photo)
Trucks carrying fuel for the Gaza Strip enter Rafah through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2014. (File Photo: AFP Photo)
TT
20

Israel Partially Reopens Gaza’s Commercial Crossing

Trucks carrying fuel for the Gaza Strip enter Rafah through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2014. (File Photo: AFP Photo)
Trucks carrying fuel for the Gaza Strip enter Rafah through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2014. (File Photo: AFP Photo)

Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced that Kerem Shalom Gaza's only commercial crossing will reopen following a decrease in incendiary balloons flown from Gaza Strip.

Lieberman’s office issued a statement announcing that in addition to food and medicine, fuel and gas will be allowed into Gaza Strip for the first time in a week.

"Gaza's residents need to understand that as long there are incendiary balloons and fires as on our side, life on their side will not return to a normal routine,” noted Lieberman adding that the crossing could return to full activity soon conditioned on the full cessation of fire-balloon launches and friction on the fence.

On July 9, Israel partially closed Kerem Shalom crossing in response to the incendiary kites. A week later, it imposed a complete shutdown of the crossing and banned gas and fuel from entering into the Strip, as a punishment for the continued phenomenon of incendiary kite.

The closure of the crossing was accompanied by other decisions, such as reducing the fishing area from 9 to 3 miles, before Hamas stopped flaming kites aircraft after a second deal was established between Gaza and Israel last Sunday.

Israel confirmed that Hamas had agreed to include balloons and kites as part of the deal. Hamas did not comment on the matter.

In fact, the fire kites stopped for several days before activists sent some of them on Monday and Tuesday.

Israel says the incendiary kites burned about 28,000 dunums of agricultural land, a figure that could not be ascertained, or to what extent the fires actually caused damage.

The decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing came at a time when Palestinian officials said the Strip was about to collapse given that the economic crisis inside Gaza was exacerbating, while important sectors in Gaza have warned that the extended closure of the crossing would mean the cessation of its services.

Gaza's Health Ministry warned that the local health sector in the Strip stands on the verge of a "severe crisis" due to a chronic lack of fuel for emergency generators.

"What remains of a fuel grant will only meet our electricity needs until the first or second week of next month," said Ashraf Abu-Mahadi, the head of the ministry's international cooperation department.

Hospitals in Gaza need at least 450,000 liters of fuel to continue operating each month, according to Abu-Mahadi. He explained that emergency generators were needed to cope with frequent power outages, caused by Israel's ongoing blockade, that can sometimes last for up to 16 hours at a stretch.

"This means Gaza's ongoing health crisis will only worsen, further disrupting basic health services," he warned.

Gaza's power company announced on Monday a further reduction in the Strip’s electricity supply after its sole power station stopped functioning. As a result, Gazans will lack power for 18 hours a day instead of 16.

Meanwhile, a power line used to deliver electricity from Israel has been cut off for about a week.

"We are trying to supply electricity to the residents of Gaza at the minimal extent of four hours a day, but this is also doubtful," Mohammed Thabet, spokesman for Gaza's Electricity Distribution Company said. Gaza residents will experience power blackouts for more than the 16 hours a day that has been the norm, added the company.

Gaza's energy authority did not explain why the power station was shut, a source told Haaretz that a lack of diesel fuel caused the closure. According to the authority's figures, Gaza requires 600 megawatts of electricity a day, but the power station, when it functions, provides only 120. Israel provides about another 120 megawatts, while Egypt supplies another 20.

Palestinian Authority and Hamas are in dispute over the administration of the Strip, exacerbating the electricity crisis. Israel, as well as the United States and the United Nations, are considering ideas on establishing and building a power plant in Gaza.



Egypt, Iran to Hold Regular Political Consultations to Develop Relations

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian presidency)
TT
20

Egypt, Iran to Hold Regular Political Consultations to Develop Relations

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Cairo on Monday. (Egyptian presidency)

Egypt and Iran agreed on Monday to continue discussions to develop their relations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Cairo for talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty.

During a press conference with Araghchi, Abdelatty announced the launch of political consultations between Egypt and Iran to discuss bilateral ties.

An Egyptian presidency statement said Sisi and Araghchi stressed the importance of continuing efforts to “explore prospects of developing ties between their countries.”

Abdelatty confirmed that there was a mutual desire to develop relations.

For his part, Araghchi said this was his fourth time meeting Sisi and that he had met the foreign minister of Egypt over ten times, reflecting Iran’s keenness on developing ties.

“There is a desire to expand relations, political consultations and cooperation on the political and economic levels and all others,” he added.

“We have a desire to overcome obstacles that have been impeding these ties. The opportunity is available now more than ever,” he stated.

“Trust between Cairo and Tehran has never been this high,” he noted.

Egypt and Iran had severed diplomatic relations in 1979 before restoring them to the level of charge d’affaires eleven years later. Egyptian and Iranian officials have met several times over the past two years to tackle the possibility of developing relations.

The Iranian presidency in May 2023 ordered that the necessary measures be taken to boost ties with Egypt. Sisi and late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met in Riyadh in November 2023.

Huda Raouf, head of the Iranian Studies Unit at the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Araghchi’s visit to Cairo sought to explore just how much rapprochement can be achieved with Egypt.

Iran has been trying to improve relations in recent years, while Egypt has been reluctant, she noted.

The FM’s visit is a notable development, which may lead to greater rapprochement in the future, especially when it comes to tourism, trade and cooperation in regional files, starting with the war on Gaza and Red Sea security, she remarked.

Sisi and Araghchi also discussed the “rapid developments in the region.”

Sisi expressed Cairo’s rejection of the “expansion of the conflict,” urging a de-escalation “to avert a regional war that will have dangerous repercussions on the security of all regional countries and their people.”

He therefore underscored the “importance of the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States” over Tehran’s nuclear program, said an Egyptian presidency spokesman.

Sisi stressed the need for an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid.”

Talks between Araghchi and Abdelatty also tackled Gaza, as well as the developments in Syria and Lebanon and Red Sea security.

Abdelatty stressed the need to “protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the importance of restoring calm in the region.”