Israel closing Gaza crossings violates ceasefire: Hamas

Israel's closing of the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings is a violation of the of the ceasefire reached at the end of August to end the fifty day war between Hamas and Israel, Hamas deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzouk said on Sunday.  

Abu Marzouk said the Israeli move was "childish and irresponsible" and he said the excuse that Israel gave for the closures - the rocket fired into Israel on Friday - was illegitimate, Israel Radio reported on Sunday. 

Abu Marzouk said the closures amounted to collective punishment, and that new additional crossings should be opened instead of closing the existing crossings, which he said, are insufficient to meet the needs for the rehabilitation of Gaza.  

Following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Friday that landed in the Eshkol Regional Council, the army decided to close on Saturday evening the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings into the coastal territory until further notice.

This is the first time both crossings have been closed since the end of Operation Protective Edge.

On Friday, the IDF had detected a projectile heading toward Israeli territory – the second such incident since Israel and Hamas reached a deal on August 26 to halt seven weeks of fighting. The cease-fire has largely been holding.

On the Egyptian-Gaza border, the Rafah Border crossing also remained closed as Egypt operated in the area to evacuate residents to create a buffer zone following attacks on in the Sinai that killed dozens of Egyptian security personnel.  

Egypt has accused Hamas in the past of aiding Islamist armed groups in Sinai - an allegation denied by the Gaza movement, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

"We are against the shedding of a drop of Egyptian blood. We wish Egypt security and stability," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza. 

The Gaza Interior Ministry said on Saturday that the Egyptian closure of the Rafah Crossing would "aggravate the suffering of thousands of patients and students," the Middle East Monitor reported. 

Egyptian-mediated cease-fire talks between Hamas and Israel – scheduled to resume in October in Cairo – were recently postponed following the wave of terrorism in Sinai. 

No new date for the negotiations, which adjourned in late September for Jewish and Muslim holidays, has been announced.  

Meanwhile, many Gaza residents faced flooding over the weekend as the first significant rainfall amounts fell in the region.

Streets in Khan Younis in Gaza had already been swamped on Friday and contained homes filled with water. 

"The water from rain and the sewage water flooded into the container. Look everything is flooded, all my stuff is already wet. I have nothing to sit on," said resident Yousef Al-Najjar. 

Fifty days of war in one of the most densely populated parts of the world has left swathes of Gaza in ruins.

The Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing has stated that Gaza needs five thousand caravans, for more than 130,000 displaced Gazans.

Thousands of displaced Palestinians moved into tented camps or caravans which lack basic services in the Gaza Strip after their homes were destroyed during Operation Protective Edge.