i24 News – Israel today backtracked on expanding the quota of work permits for Gazan Palestinians to 15,500, after terrorists in the Hamas-controlled territory launched a volley of rockets on southern Israel overnight.
Last week, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced it was adding an additional 1,500 permits to the present quota of 14,000.
But following the rocket attacks, Defense Minister Benny Gantz decided to freeze the move, COGAT said in a statement.
“Following evaluation of the security situation this evening, Defense Minister Benny Gantz decided to suspend his decision from last week to raise the quota of entry permits granted to Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip for purposes of work and commerce. The quota was raised last week by 1500 permits. The decision was made in the wake of a rocket fire directed at the State of Israel.”
While there was no immediate claim by any of the Gaza-based terrorist groups, Israel holds Hamas responsible for any attacks emanating from the Palestinian enclave as a matter of policy.
“The Hamas terror organization carries responsibility for all activities directed against Israel in and from the Gaza Strip, and it will bear the consequences,” the statement read.
On Friday, the Iron Dome air defense system intercepted one rocket while the three others fell in open terrain. Red alert rocket warning sirens sounded off in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and in the Lachish region, northeast of Gaza.
For how many days or hours are those Arab work permits suspended?