Karni crossing closure shuts major grain import route

Karni crossing closure shuts major grain import route - increases aid cost 20 per cent

The implications of the total closure of Karni commercial crossing on the lives of ordinary Palestinians is highlighted by the stopping of the conveyor belt used to transfer grain through the crossing and the 20% increase in cost now faced by the UN in getting aid to 750,000 people.

(IRIN) The complete closure of Karni crossing on the Israel-Gaza border announced on 2 March will make the delivery of food aid to Gaza more difficult, according to UN agencies assisting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where over half the population is estimated to be food insecure.

The closure of Karni will also add 20 percent to the cost of aid delivery, said Chris Gunness, spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jerusalem, at a time when UNRWA is facing a budget deficit of over US$50 million.

Some 750,000 Palestinians receive UNRWA food assistance in Gaza, out of about one million refugees living in the territory.

Karni, controlled by Israel, is the only commercial crossing with the facilities to allow large numbers of trucks to enter Gaza. Closed to trucks since June 2007, the conveyor belt had been operating to transfer grain, until the Israeli authorities announced its complete closure on 2 March. more

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