Ammon News - The Israeli occupation decided to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing, starting on Tuesday, more than two months after it was closed.

The Kerem Shalom crossing is the southern crossing between Israel and Gaza - in the Rafah area.

The purpose of reopening the crossing is to transfer aid from Egypt to the Nitzana crossing, about 40 kilometers south of Rafah, to be inspected in Israel and transported to Kerem Shalom in the border triangle between Israel, Egypt and Gaza.

Israel said it will open two additional checkpoints to examining relief supplies before dispatching them to the Palestinian territory through the Rafah gateway.

No new direct crossings will be opened, Israel stressed on Monday, but the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings will be used to carry out checks before sending the trucks through Rafah, Agence France-Presse reports.

“This is being done to improve the volume of security screenings of aid entering Gaza via the Rafah Crossing and will enable us to double the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza,” the occupation army said on X (formerly Twitter).

The additional checkpoints will screen “trucks containing water, food, medical supplies and shelter equipment”, according to a joint statement from the Israeli army and COGAT, the defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs.

It emphasised that “no supplies will be entering the Gaza Strip from Israel”, only via Egypt.

The Guardian