Hamas takes control of second Gaza Strip border crossing

Palestinian Authority employees claim Hamas forced them to turn over supervision of the Kerem Shalom crossing in Gaza, but Hamas says the workers left because they didn't want to comply with security inspections Hamas imposed.
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A member of the security forces of the Palestinian Authority gestures as a truck carrying goods arrives at the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 7, 2017. - REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
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Rasha Abou Jalal
@rashaaboujalal1
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In a surprising move, employees of the Palestinian Crossing and Borders Authority, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority (PA), left the Kerem Shalom crossing, the Gaza Strip's only official commercial crossing, Feb. 17. Hamas security forces then assumed control of the crossing, which lies at the junction of the Gaza-Israel border right next to Egypt.

Hamas had handed over control of the Gaza Strip crossing Nov. 1, 2017, to the Fatah-led PA in the West Bank under an ultimately unsuccessful reconciliation agreement the groups had signed in October 2017 in Cairo.

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