EU announces development of key commercial crossing between Gaza Strip and Israel
October 5, 2021, 12:25 am

EU announces development of key commercial crossing between Gaza Strip and Israel

EU-bulid-

The Xinhua reported, a European Union official on Monday announced that the development of Kerem Shalom, the key commercial crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel, will take place before the end of 2021.

Shadi Othman, a EU spokesman in the Palestinian territories, told Xinhua that upgrading the commercial crossing of Kerem Shalom is within a package of development projects that will be approved for Palestine.

Othman noted: "The plans for the development project of the commercial crossing of Kerem Shalom in southern Gaza Strip are in place, but the budget and the nature of the work are not yet clear."

He made the remarks in response to an earlier Israeli media report, which said that the EU devoted 6 million euros to develop Kerem Shalom crossing to meet the needs of export and import in the Gaza Strip.

The report also said that the new project will lead to the expansion of the truck lane, the renewal of the infrastructure, and the installation of advanced electronic scanning systems.

It added that the purpose of developing the only commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip is to keep the unloading of the trucks in accordance with the conditions of the Israeli side.

Othman said that the EU-funded projects allocated to the Palestinian territories aim to support the economy and several sectors, including water, infrastructure, and the Gaza Strip's community.

On Sunday, EU officials visited the Gaza Strip and met with Palestinian businessmen, according to an official EU statement.

The statement said that they called on Israel to lift the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007 and facilitate free commercial movement for the population of the impoverished coastal enclave.

Source: xinhua

Facebook battles global outage and whistleblower revelations Taiwan needs to be on alert for China's 'over the top' military activities

Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.