The Israeli military has followed Egypt’s lead today and closed all of its border crossings with the Gaza Strip indefinitely. Between the two, there are no longer any crossings into Gaza.
Egypt closed their crossing last week, and demolished the homes of some 10,000 Egyptians living along the Sinai/Gaza frontier as part of a plan to build a massive buffer zone.
Israel announced their own closure after a claim of a single rocket fired across the border. There was no indication that the rocket hit anything. The Israeli government have no indication of how long the closure would last.
But with Egypt’s junta seemingly set for a permanent closure of Gaza, Israel will have dramatically more leverage in allowing humanitarian aid into the tiny Palestinian enclave. With pushes for reconstruction in the strip, expect Israel to try to dictate terms heavily on access.
