Israel reopens Gaza crossings

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday ordered the reopening of the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings with the Gaza Strip.

“The decision comes after a decrease in the violent events in Gaza over the weekend and efforts Hamas made to restrain demonstrators,” Lieberman said in a statement.

Lieberman had shut the two crossings and the entry of Qatar-funded fuel shipments into Gaza following a rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.

“The decision on the renewal of the fuel from Qatar has been put off as for the time being, and will be examined in a number of days based on the events,” he said.

More than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire in anti-occupation protests along the buffer zone between Gaza and Israel.

Protesters demand the right to return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.