Kerem Shalom border crossing

Operation

Until 2007, European monitors from the European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah used the Kerem Shalom crossing to get to the Rafah Border Crossing. The EUBAM heads a Liaison Office at Kerem Shalom which receives real-time video and data feeds of the activities at the Rafah crossing. The Liaison Office meets regularly to review implementation of the Agreed Principles for Rafah Crossing, to resolve any dispute pertaining to the agreement, and to perform other tasks specified therein. The Liaison Office is manned by liaison officers from EUBAM, the Palestinian Authority, and the Government of Israel.

Since 2010, NIS 75 million have been invested in upgrading and expanding the crossing, which is capable of handling 450 trucks a day.

The Palestinian side of the crossing is operated by two families who were granted a franchise by the Palestinian Authority and authorized by Hamas. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Ramallah coordinates activity with Israel. The two sides are 400 meters apart, separated by a drop-off zone for unloading goods.

In December 2012, Israel eased its restrictions on the import of building materials, allowing the transfer of 20 truckloads of aggregates and 34 truckloads of gravel from Egypt. The volume is expected to increase to 100 trucks a day.

Incidents

On 25 June 2006, Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian Hamas militants near Kerem Shalom after the attackers infiltrated the border from the Gaza Strip into Israel via a tunnel. Two Israeli Defense Force soldiers were killed and three others wounded, in addition to Shalit. In response and with the mission of rescuing Shalit, IDF entered Gaza Strip as part of Operation Summer Rains on 28 June. Shalit was freed in a prisoner exchange on 18 October 2011.

On 19 April 2008, Palestinian suicide bombers detonated their explosives-laden vehicles at the crossing. According to the IDF, two jeeps and an armored personnel carrier were used and two vehicles were detonated killing 3 bombers and wounding 13 Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were protected from serious injury by fortifications at the crossing. A second armored personnel carrier close to the border north of Kerem Shalom was blown up by Israeli fire soon after the bombing. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Abu Obeidah, spokesman for Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas affiliated military wing, 4 booby-trapped vehicles were used, three of which exploded and one withdrew. He described it as "a gift for the people under siege" and "a purely military operation".

On 5 August 2012, the crossing was attacked by a group of masked gunmen who had murdered 16 police officers and hijacked armored jeeps from an Egyptian border checkpoint. One jeep, apparently booby-trapped, rammed the checkpoint and exploded; the other was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force.