Israeli military advised not to respond to rockets launched from Gaza

By Cagri Kosak

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli military was advised not to retaliate against rockets fired from Gaza, according to local media on Saturday.

The Southern Command of the Israeli army made the recommendation, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported.

Referring to the decision to close the Erez (Beit Hanoun) crossing to Palestinian workers in the Gaza Strip, the army said closing the border would be more effective than a military attack.

On Saturday, the Israeli army said it would close the Erez crossing to Palestinian workers in the Gaza Strip as of Sunday.

"Following the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip, we inform you that on Sunday, the Erez crossing will remain closed to workers and merchants,” the coordinator of the Israeli government's operations in the Palestinian territories, Ghassan Alyan, said in a statement.

A total of 12,000 Palestinians hold work permits in Israel.

In March, the Israeli government said it would raise the number of permits for Palestinians to 20,000, according to Israeli media.

Tensions have been running high across Palestinian territories since the beginning of April amid repeated Israeli arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank and daily settler incursions into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.