Israel keeping Gaza siege despite deal

Middle East Monitor reported:

Israel has not begun to implement a lift on a years-long siege on the Gaza Strip, a senior Palestinian border official said Sunday, despite a recent cease-fire agreement that entailed opening all border crossings between Israel and the embattled enclave.

"Commercial activity at Kerem Shalom crossing remains the same as it was since the cease-fire was announced," Mounir al-Ghalban, director of the Palestinian side of the crossing, disclosed.

The deal, which came through indirect talks between the two parties in Cairo, calls for opening all border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel – effectively ending the latter's seven-year blockade of the coastal territory.

However, al-Ghalban asserted that Israel is still applying the same level of restrictions on the entry of commodities through Kerem Shalom commercial crossing with the Gaza Strip.

"As was the case before and during the war, Israel still allows only 200-400 trucks loaded with aid supplies as well as limited quantities of fuel and cooking gas through the crossing daily," he said.

"An improvement would be felt if [Israel] starts permitting more than 400 trucks daily."

The Gaza Strip has six border crossings controlled by Israel and one controlled by Egypt.