GAZA, June 21: The Gaza Strip’s main international gateway was closed on Wednesday after European monitors said an Israeli security alert prevented them from manning the crossing.
The Hamas group said it suspected the Rafah terminal, bordering Egypt, was closed to send a message to its government to stop carrying cash by hand into Gaza to sidestep a western aid embargo. The monitors brushed aside the accusation.
Last week the monitors sent a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas protesting Hamas’s use of Rafah to bring in funds, raising fears that the crossing could be shut.
In a meeting on Wednesday with senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat, the head of the monitors, Pietro Pistolese, and the European Union’s Middle East envoy, Marc Otte, urged the Palestinians to act, European and Palestinian officials said.
“The opening of the crossing point is subject to compliance with the agreed principles and international standards,” a European official said, adding that Europe wanted all Hamas officials to declare any money they bring in and provide information about where it came from and how it will be used.
European monitors oversee the terminal under a US-brokered deal aimed at boosting the impoverished Gazan economy after Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from the strip last year.
ESCORT: Rafah did not open as scheduled because the Israeli army closed the nearby Kerem Shalom passage into southern Gaza over a security alert, monitors said. The passage is used by monitors to gain access to Rafah.
“We didn’t order Rafah to shut,” an Israeli army spokeswoman said. “They did it on the basis of Kerem Shalom.”
The Israeli army said it was unclear when Kerem Shalom would reopen. It said monitors could get to Rafah through the northern Erez crossing into Gaza.
Monitors avoid that route because they would need to travel the length of Gaza under heavy escort. Hundreds of Palestinians waited on the Gaza side of the crossing for it to reopen.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the closure aimed to prevent the group bringing cash through Rafah to get around a crippling boycott on the three-month-old government.
Israel, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions after Hamas refused to recognise the Jewish state and accept past peace deals. Sworn to destroy Israel, Hamas took office in March.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas accused Israel of imposing more restrictions on the Palestinian people.
“We have information some Palestinian officials urged European monitors to do this to prevent Hamas officials bringing money through Rafah to resolve our financial crisis,” Abu Zuhri said.
A spokesman for the EU monitors said: “The only reason our deployment has been delayed is because of the security alert.”
The threat of US sanctions has stopped local and foreign banks from dealing with the Palestinian government, leaving most of its 165,000 workers unpaid for nearly four months.
Hamas has brought money through Rafah stuffed in suitcases. The biggest known shipment so far totalled $20 million and was brought through Rafah by Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar.—Reuters
