Israel reopens Gaza crossing after ceasefire takes effect 

Israel reopened the Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) commercial crossing today after ending a three-day bombing campaign against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip last night following a ceasefire brokered by Egypt.

According to a Wafa correspondent, several trucks transported fuel into the Gaza Strip after seven days of forced closure of the crossing.

More truckloads of food and necessary humanitarian and medical aid are also expected to resume entry into Gaza today.

Israel tightened its stifling sieged on the Gaza Strip over the past three days, after arresting Islamic Jihad leader Bassam Al-Saadi in a raid of the occupied West Bank on 1 August.

The two crossings from Israel into Gaza, including the Erez crossing, were closed for four days before Israel’s bombardment of the Strip between Friday and Sunday.

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During the bombing campaign, 44 Palestinians were killed, including 15 children and four women, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said. It added that 360 others were wounded.

Some 2.3 million Palestinians live in the narrow Gaza Strip. They are largely unable to leave to seek employment abroad, and have been squeezed by 15 years of a siege imposed by Israel. Moreover, the occupation state has launched four major military offensives against the largely civilian population since 2008. Gaza also borders Egypt, which imposes its own restrictions on passage through the Rafah crossing.