BICOM

The Israeli army confirmed that it will today re-open the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings with the Gaza Strip, which had been closed following rocket fire. It was also revealed yesterday that an Israeli hospital is treating the sister of senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk.

On Friday, a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the Eshkol region of southern Israel, although it did not cause any damage or injuries. It was only the second instance of rocket fire hitting Israel since Operation Protective Edge ended in August. Given the security concerns, Israeli officials subsequently took the decision to temporarily close the border crossings with the Gaza Strip except for humanitarian purposes. However, an IDF spokesperson announced last night that, “The crossing points of Erez and Kerem Shalom will be open as normal on Tuesday morning.”

Hamas leaders had condemned Israel’s original decision to temporarily close the crossings. Among them, senior official Mousa Abu Marzouk accused Israel of “violating” the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire which brought an end to Operation Protective Edge. Abu Marzouk also opposed a framework recently agreed between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and United Nations to facilitate the entry of construction materials into Gaza.

However, it emerged yesterday that Abu Marzouk’s sister, 60-year-old Halamia Shcata, has been treated on several occasions in an Israeli hospital for cancer. She is one of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank treated annually in Israeli hospitals. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli body responsible for such decisions said that individual cases are assessed regardless of family connections.

Last month, it was reported that the daughter of Ismael Haniya, Hamas’s political leader in Gaza and overall deputy to exiled leader Khaled Meshaal, was recently treated in a Tel Aviv hospital. In June it was disclosed that Haniya’s mother-in-law had been treated in Israel for cancer, while his granddaughter was also transferred to an Israeli hospital in a critical condition last year.