Israel recently blocked the fuel and gas stock supply route to the already besieged Gaza Strip in retaliation to what it calls ‘Palestinians setting fire to Israeli land, local media agencies reported.

The halt in shipments was ordered by the Minister of Defence Avigdor Lieberman via the partially sealed off Karem Abu Salem commercial border crossing. The decision, which was effective on Thursday, is expected to continue until further notice.

As per a report from Gaza, not less than 19 fires were reported by Israel on Wednesday.

The move by Israel is to place “pressure on the leadership here to stop the incendiary kites and balloons,” Dekker said, referring to Hamas – the group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Earlier on July 9, Israel shut down the sole commercial crossing towards the besieged Palestinian territory and stopped the crucial supply of essential commodities to the nearly two million residents.

The move by Israel had few exceptions like the transfer of humanitarian needs including cooking gas, wheat and flour into Gaza, according to an official responsible for coordinating the movement of cargo through the border confirmed news agencies.

Due to the closure, Gaza’s exports too were affected, further straining an already crippled economy brought to its knees by the 12-year blockade.

About 40 to 50 trucks transporting local goods used to pass through the strip on daily basis, an official at the Gaza border had said.

The enclave at the coastal side suffers due to the severe lack of electricity and is dependent upon fuel-powered generators during outages that last for hours at a time.

Palestinians, in the recent weeks, have been protesting against the blockade by Israel from all sides and neighboring Egypt since 2006.

Some of them have even used flaming objects connected to kites to set fire to agriculture land just over the fence. The incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza above the Israeli fence east of the strip have, as per the reports, caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.

In response, Israel had being utilizing drones to intercept those kites, but Palestinians have are somewhat successful in bringing the drones down to the earth.

In its previous retaliatory measures, Israel targeted belongings to Hamas, putting up the blame upon the group for the launching of the kites. The air raids by Israel have killed no less than three Palestinian civilians in the past month alone.

Palestinians in Gaza, since March 30, have been protesting for basic right to return to the homes from which they were expelled in 1948.

Not less than 153 people have been killed by Israeli forces during the ‘Great March of Return’ – which were popular demonstrations which have been taking place along the fence with Israel.

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