JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel reopened its only crossing for people with the Gaza Strip on Thursday, more than a week after it was closed following a destructive Palestinian protest.
A spokesperson for Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Erez Crossing was reopened for pedestrians after some of its facilities were destroyed during a protest.
Israel's military closed the crossing on September 5, saying it was due to "riots" of protesters, who hurled rocks and damaged the infrastructure of the crossing on the Palestinian side.
Reopening of the crossing came after several days of relative calmness. Egypt and United Nations officials are struggling to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza.
Israel sporadically closes its crossings with Gaza as a punitive measure.
In August, Israel closed the Erez crossing for about a week following violence along the fence separating Israel and Gaza.
Gazans have been staging rallies near the border since March 30 to protest the crippling blockade on the enclave starting in 2007, while Israel blames Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza, for orchestrating the protest.
Israeli forces have killed at least 166 Palestinians, including 125 protestors in the rallies, while an Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper.
