UPDATE – Israel closes Gaza terminal to humanitarian aid after rocket fire

UPDATES NUMBER OF INJURED

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army shut the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Gaza Strip to humanitarian aid on Sunday following rocket fire from the besieged enclave.

At least 14 Israelis were injured, including four seriously, when a barrage of mortar shells was fired at a military site near the illegal settlement of Kerem Shalom, according to the Walla news portal.

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas group, claimed responsibility for the attack.

An Israeli military statement said the terminal between Israel and Gaza was closed to the passage of aid trucks.

Israel has imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip since last October, leaving the territory’s population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli army has waged a deadly offensive on the Palestinian enclave in retaliation for a cross-border attack led by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi