Gaza City – Hamas closed the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel following the assassination of one of its commanders.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The border crossing was closed Sunday in an effort to prevent the assassin or assassins from leaving Gaza. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt also reportedly has been closed by Hamas.
Thousands attended the funeral for Mazan Fukha in Gaza on Saturday, which was attended by Hamas senior official Ismail Haniyeh, Ynet reported.
Fukha was assassinated on Friday night outside of his Gaza home, according to reports. Hamas is blaming Israel’s Mossad for his death. Mourners shouted “revenge” against Israel during the funeral, the AFP news agency reported.
The Israeli side of the Erez crossing, the only place where people cross in and out of Gaza, will remain open. The Kerem Shalom crossing, which is used for goods and humanitarian aid, also will remain open, according to Israeli officials.
Fukha, who Israel says founded Hamas in the West Bank and helped coordinate terror attacks against Israelis, was jailed in Israel after being found responsible for suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis during the second Intifada.
He was released from prison in Israel in 2011, as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange and ordered deported to Gaza.
Let Israel release few prisoners.
Let Hamas close the border more often.
1. Good riddance to bad rubbish. May this signal a wave of more and more terrorists meeting their deaths.
2. These terrorists (Hamas) are beyond stupid. The crossings they closed enabled many of them to cross into Israel, get a day’s work and pay, and inject a few drops into their economy. This will choke them even more. If Obama and his terror lovers were still squatting in the White House, we would hear them condemn Israel for a “senseless murder” that forced Hamas to interrupt the flow of income and goods into Gaza. Once again, good riddance to bad rubbish.
3. This again demonstrates the foolishness of releasing terrorists in deals. Once apprehended and identified, they need to be eliminated immediately. Meanwhile, it costs Israel and its taxpayers money to keep them alive and sustained, and only serves to hurt Israel later. The only existence for a terrorist is being dead. Whether to feed the corpses to hungry animals or to return them for burial is an open debate.