Karni crossing

Karni Crossing
Gaza Strip border crossings
Coordinates31°28′29″N 34°28′25″E / 31.4747°N 34.4736°E / 31.4747; 34.4736
CarriesContainers
CrossesIsrael-Gaza Strip barrier
Locale Israel
Gaza Strip
Official nameKarni Crossing
מעבר קרני
معبر كارني
Maintained byIsrael Airports Authority
Palestinian Authority
History
Opened1994
Closed2011
Statistics
Daily traffic344 trucks (2007)
Location
Interactive map of Karni Crossing

The Karni Crossing (Arabic: معبر كارني or معبر المنطار; Hebrew: מעבר קרני) was a cargo terminal on the Israel-Gaza Strip barrier located in the north-eastern end of the Gaza Strip was used for the export and import of goods to and from Gaza from 1994 to 2011. This was done as a 'back-to-back' transfer, meaning that Palestinian products meant for export were removed from a Palestinian truck and placed in an Israeli truck, and vice versa for incoming goods.[1] The Karni Crossing was also used by the residents of Netzarim, since the Karni road was the only route to that isolated Israeli settlement on which Jewish travel was allowed after the 1994 implementation of the Oslo Accords. The crossing has been affected by the Israeli Blockade of the Gaza Strip.

In March 2011, Israel permanently closed the Karni Crossing. In December 2022, the last remaining structures of the crossing were demolished by the Israeli military in order to complete the Gaza–Israel barrier.

According to the management, the crossing was named after Joseph Karni, an Israeli who had set up a modern packing warehouse in the Gaza Strip near the present-day cargo terminal shortly after Israel captured the strip in 1967. The Palestinians called it Al-Montar, after the nearby Tell Ali Muntar.[2]

History

The Karni Crossing was opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords to allow Palestinian merchants to export and import goods.

The Karni Crossing has been attacked several times by Palestinian militants since the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000, in either mortar attacks or frontal infantry assaults, forcing temporary shut-downs for repairs and enhancement of security procedures. Both Palestinians and Israelis have been killed in these attacks. As a crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Karni Crossing has been used for hostile activities by armed forces from the Palestinian side. Militant Palestinian factions have used the Karni Crossing to smuggle suicide bombers and explosive belts into Israel. The deadliest suicide attack to come through Karni was the Port of Ashdod bombing in 2004.[3][4]

In 2006, the Israeli authorities closed the crossing for over 100 days due to terror alerts and rocket fire.[5] By then, the Karni Crossing was managed by the Israel Airports Authority, unlike the Erez Crossing, which is managed by the Israel Defense Forces. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights released a statement calling for the crossing to be reopened, and saying that the closing of Karni was a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bans collective punishment.[6]

Between September 2006 and June 2007, the crossing was open daily except for several brief closures due to Palestinian labour strikes.[7] When Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Israel closed the terminal. The previous operators, who were affiliated with Fatah, had fled to the West Bank. Hamas offered to bring Fatah back to Karni or hire a Turkish company to operate the Palestinian side, but Israel has refused to deal with Hamas, the de facto authority in the Gaza Strip. In June 2007, the UNRWA coordinator commended the IDF on moving humanitarian shipments to the secondary Kerem Shalom and Sufa crossings, and hoped that Karni could be reopened as part of a longer-term solution.[8]

At the end of March 2011, Israel permanently shut the Karni Crossing.[9] All of its cargo operations were moved to Kerem Shalom border crossing, and pedestrian traffic was redirected to the Erez Crossing.[10]

In December 2022, over a decade after the crossing was closed, the Israeli military demolished the last remaining structures at the site to enable the completion of the Gaza–Israel barrier.[10][11][12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Karni Crossing". Historical Dictionary of Israel. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2022 – via Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias.
  2. ^ "Karni Terminal. General Information". Israel Airports Authority. Archived from the original on 19 June 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Suicide bombing at Ashdod Port". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 14 March 2004. Retrieved 8 November 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ^ "Ten Jews Murdered in Double Suicide Attack in Ashdod Port". Israel National News. 14 March 2004. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  5. ^ Katz, Yaakov (17 May 2006). "Peretz to reopen Karni crossing". JPost. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  6. ^ "PCHR Warns of the Consequences of the Continued Closure of Al-Muntar (Karni) Checkpoint". Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. 2006-01-30. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  7. ^ Lazaroff, Tovah (13 January 2011). "IDF set to close Karni crossing into Gaza". JPost. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  8. ^ Erlanger, Steven; El-Khodary, Taghreed; Kershner, Isabel (19 July 2007). "Gaza's Economy, Already Fragile, May Collapse Unless Crossings Are Reopened, U.N. Reports". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  9. ^ "מעבר קרני". Israel Defense Forces. 10 March 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  10. ^ a b Fabian, Emanuel. "Israel demolishes disused Gaza cargo terminal to improve defenses in south". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  11. ^ "Israel evacuates Karni crossing, Gaza protests hotspot". The Jerusalem Post. 2022-12-04. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  12. ^ "Israel dismantles unused Gaza crossing to extend barrier". The Arab Weekly. 2022-12-07. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  13. ^ Yakir, Shai (2022-12-04). "Israel evacuating Karni crossing to complete Gaza barrier". www.i24news.tv. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
Wikinews has related news:

31°28′29″N 34°28′25″E / 31.47472°N 34.47361°E / 31.47472; 34.47361

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.