Jerusalem
06 July 2008
Israel has reopened its borders with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, givinga boost to a fragile truce. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureauin Jerusalem.
Israel reopened border crossings into the GazaStrip, after closing them last week in response to a Palestinian rocketattack. A gradual opening of the borders is part of a ceasefirereached last month between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamaswhich rules Gaza.
But periodic Palestinian rocket attacks havethreatened to derail the truce. Israel shut the Gaza crossingsThursday after the Islamic Jihad fired a rocket across the border inresponse to the Israeli army's killing of one of the group's leaders inthe West Bank. The truce does not apply to the West Bank, where theIsraeli army conducts frequent raids against militants.
On Sunday, about 80 trucks carrying food, fuel and cement crossed into Gaza.
Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
"Israel wants to see this ceasefire succeed and we will make every effort for that to happen," Regev said.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri says that under the truce, Israel should increase the flow of supplies into Gaza.
"We call on the Israeli army to abide by the agreement and to translate it on the ground," Abu Zuhri said.
Israelsays the ball is in Hamas' court: if there is no rocket fire, theborder crossings will remain open. But the question remains whetherHamas is willing or able to exert its authority over other militantgroups.