In a prerecorded message delivered to Palestinian residents in Gaza over the phone, the Israeli army said it was not interested in keeping crossing points there sealed off, but was forced to do so because of "terrorist" attacks. "The continuation of terrorist attacks and the movement by terrorists through the crossings have left no choice for the army but to keep them closed," said the message.

The message also urged the Palestinians "not to allow extremist groups, which serves ulterior agenda," from using the crossing points as position for their attacks.

Israel shut down all crossing points into Gaza strip after the abduction of an Israeli soldier last June in southeast Gaza, sparking strong Palestinian criticism, especially by the Hamas-led government, which accused Israel of breaking earlier agreements on the operation of the crossings.

Palestinian officials and humanitarian agencies have also warned of a humanitarian disaster in the desert coastal strip from which Israel withdrew last summer.

After the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, Israel resorted to such new means as dropping leaflets from aircrafts and calling the landline telephones of Gaza houses to convoy messages to the Palestinian people.

Source: Xinhua