Israel closes crossing to Gazans
Israel yesterday said it will close its only crossing from the Gaza Strip for workers in response to overnight rocket fire, stopping short of conducting retaliatory strikes in an apparent bid to ease tensions.
The rocket attacks on Friday night and yesterday morning followed days of clashes at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound and a month of deadly violence.
The unrest -- which comes as the Jewish festival of Passover overlaps with the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan -- has sparked international fears of a wider conflict, one year after similar violence led to an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza-based militants.
They followed rocket attacks on Wednesday and Thursday. Israel had retaliated against those attacks with air strikes.
Employment in Israel is a lifeline for people in Gaza, where according to a recent World Bank report nearly half of the 2.3 million population is unemployed. There are currently 12,000 Gazans with work permits in Israel, with the government recently announcing its intention to add another 8,000.
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