JERUSALEM (AFP)--Israel kept all of its border crossings with the Gaza Strip sealed on Sunday in response to persistent fire by militants as the Hamas-ruled territory's sole power plant again shut down.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak's office announced that the crossings - through which badly needed food and humanitarian aid usually reach Gaza - will remain closed on Monday after militants fired several mortar rounds and rockets at southern Israel, causing no casualties.
Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said the restrictions cover all goods and people except the sick, who would be allowed to travel to and from the Islamist-run territory.
Tension between Israel and the Gaza Strip has been mounting amid a spate of tit-for-tat attacks on both sides that have threatened to destroy a June 19 Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas.
On Sunday, Israel denied claims by the Popular Resistance Committees, a small Palestinian militant group, that three of its fighters were wounded in the early hours during an incursion into central Gaza.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai warned on Saturday that a major incursion into Gaza was becoming more likely a day after militant mortar fire wounded seven soldiers at a nearby base.
Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz also called for tough measures against Hamas, but not a reoccupation of the impoverished territory where 1.5 million people live.
"I have always opposed occupation of the Gaza Strip. What we need to do is to strike the leadership (of Hamas), strike the infrastructure and halt all deliveries of fuel and other goods," Mofaz told public radio.
Kanaan Obeid, assistant director of Gaza's electricity authority, said that Gaza's sole power plant ground to a halt on Sunday after running out of diesel, which is supplied through the Israeli-controlled fuel terminal.
The plant stopped functioning for several days after breakdowns in production units on November 25.
Israel has allowed food into Gaza on only three days since the flare-up of violence on November 4 prompted it to tighten its blockade of the aid-dependent territory.
The government announced on Sunday that it will invest 600 million shekels ($160 million) to build shelters for houses located within 4.5 kilometers (three miles) of Gaza.
Israeli officials were also mulling what action to take against a Libyan cargo ship laden with almost 3,000 tons of goods that was headed to the Gaza Strip after weighing anchor on Wednesday.
It is the first time a foreign government has attempted to break the Israeli blockade, although pro-Palestinian activists have, since August, made three trips from Cyprus without being intercepted by Israeli warships.
"A ship like that is capable of carrying weapons no less than what was on the Karine A weapons boat that was seized," a security official told Maariv newspaper, in reference to a vessel intercepted by the navy in 2002 and found to be transporting 50 tons of weaponry to Gaza.
"From our perspective, it is a hostile ship that left from an enemy country and we will treat it accordingly."
The unidentified official also said it had been a mistake to let in the boats carrying pro-Palestinian activists.
"We should have stopped those ships," he said. "The humane behavior displayed by the foreign ministry is liable to end up sending terrorists or weaponry into Gaza by means of assistance ships of these kinds."
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2008 16:08 ET (21:08 GMT)

Publié le 30 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones