Streaks of light are seen as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

i24 News – Israel said it will close its only crossing at its border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday after militants in the Palestinian enclave fired three rockets at the Jewish state.

“Following the rockets fired toward Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip last night, it was decided that crossings into Israel for Gazan merchants and workers through the Erez Crossing will not be permitted this upcoming Sunday,” COGAT, a unit of the defense ministry responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, said on Saturday.

According to Ynetnews, the decision to open the aisle will be examined according to the assessment of the situation.

Violence between Palestinians and Israeli authorities at Jerusalem’s holy site – the Temple Mount for Jews and the al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims – has sparked fears over it escalating into a wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While some analysts believe the Hamas terror group does not want a repeat of last May’s 11-day war with Israel, other security experts say the group is aiming for exactly that.

On Friday, two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, with one landing in open terrain in Israel and the other inside the enclave, wounding a Palestinian man.

Earlier this week, two other rocket launches were detected in Israel’s south near its border with Gaza. While no group claimed responsibility for the attacks, Hamas said after one of them that it was “keeping its finger on the trigger.”

Last month, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel intended ​ to increase the number of Palestinian workers allowed into Israel from Gaza.

Following his remarks, Israel raised the total amount of work permits for Gazans to 20,000, allowing them to seek work elsewhere from the enclave that suffers from an over 50 percent unemployment rate.