Israeli officials on Sunday 9 Marcheshvan ordered the closure of all crossings to Gaza following a rocket attack from Gaza on Friday night at 21:20 into the Eshkol Regional Council.

IDF Coordinator of Activities in the Territories Major-General Yoav Mordechai told the press that following Egypt’s decision to shut the Rafiach Crossing to Sinai, Gaza is now “cut off from the world” as a result of Israel shutting crossings. “Israel is seeking to capitalize on the situation to increase the pressure on Hamas in the hope the terror organization will realize the high price that must be paid for firing a rocket into Israel. Hamas is seeking to apply pressure on Egypt using the ‘humanitarian crisis’ angle following the closure of the Rafiach Crossing. Egypt however is not signaling if and when it plans to reopen Rafiach.”

Paradoxically, as Israel continues signaling to the world that Jerusalem is trying to improve the economic situation in Gaza, work is about to begin in the Karnei Industrial Zone to construct a Coke Cola factory. The factory will provide employment opportunities for Gaza residents.

The Coke Cola factory will provide employment for several hundred workers in the first stage and eventually, it will be employing 3,000 people. The request was approved by Israel security officials. To date, Gazans receive Coke Cola products from a Ramallah factory.

Once the factory at Karnei is completed, which will likely take six months, the production will get underway at the Karnei Industrial Area despite the fact the Karnei Crossing is a closed crossing. Officials in Israel stress that permitting the construction of the factory will not lead to the reopening of the crossing to Gaza from that location.

Israeli officials are hopeful that as more Gazans are employed, they will be less likely to engage in anti-Israel acts of terrorism.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)