Israel closes Gaza crossings

Military shuts down border after a rocket attack fired from the territory.

Sufa crossing Israel Gaza
The truce was intended to ease Israel's crippling blockade of Gaza [AFP]

‘Losing confidence’

The truce was supposed to ease Israel’s crippling blockade of Gaza, imposed more than a year ago when Hamas took power in Gaza.

Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza, said that oridinary Palestinians living in the territory feel the casefire agreement was “not going as planned”.

“Palestinians here [in Gaza] are losing confidence that the truce is bringing an improvement in the quality of their lives,” he said.

“Even when the crossings are opening, not enough quantities of supplies are making their way in to improve the situation here.”

The military said the crossings, closed on Thursday, would remain shut at least until Sunday.

“The crossings will be closed [on Friday] because of the rocket,” Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said.

He said their reopening on Sunday would “depend on the situation”.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies