Gaza: First wheat deliveries through Kerem Shalom

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) – The private transport union in the Gaza Strip ended its strike and resumed delivering goods through the sole border crossing Kerem Shalom, said Raed Fattouh, coordinator of the crossings committee.

Fattouh said the Kerem Shalom crossing would operate Sunday after a new mechanism to deliver wheat and animal feed through the terminal was installed following Israel's decision to shut down the northern bulk goods terminal.

The workers held a week-long strike to protest Israel's closure of Karni, which they said would decrease the amount of supplies entering the besieged coastal enclave. They said Gaza's roads were not fit to transport goods from the southern Kerem Shalom crossing to the northern Gaza Strip.

Private transport workers refused to make any deliveries in protest over the closure, which the United Nations and several human rights groups also condemned.

Fattouh said between 170 and 180 truckloads of goods and humanitarian aid were expected to cross into Gaza on Sunday through Kerem Shalom. He added that 15 truckloads of wheat would be transferred for the first time using a newly-installed conveyor belt.

Limited quantities of industrial-grade diesel and domestic-use gas will be delivered into Gaza through the same terminal. Two truckloads of flowers harvested in Gaza will be exported to European countries via the crossing.

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