Palestinians threaten to close Kerem Shalom crossing

06/03/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The administrative board of the Gaza Strip’s Private Transport Association has threatened to shut down Kerem Shalom crossing in protest over Israel's closure of the bulk goods Karni crossing.

Israeli authorities on Wednesday permanently closed the Karni terminal on the Gaza-Israel border, leaving only the southern Kerem Shalom crossing open to transport goods into the coastal enclave.

The board has decided to shut the Kerem Shalom crossing if Israel’s decision remains in effect, the association’s secretary-general Jihad Salim told Ma’an Friday.

"Closing the Karni crossing will add more suffering and freight will go up. The Salah Addin Street can’t cope with the large number of trucks carrying the cargo from the southern Gaza Strip to the north. The roads are not well paved, and the street already sees too many road accidents because the traffic is always congested," Salim explained.

He added that the Kerem Shalom crossing was not equipped to receive goods for a population of over 1.6 million. "It is only barren land without any facilities like rest rooms, water or electricity," he said.

Salim explained that the Palestinian side would not support the closure of any crossing. However, the Palestinian crossings department was given 48 hours to convince the Israelis to reopen the Karni crossing.

If they failed the Private Transport Association would close the Kerem Shalom terminal, he said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365645.