Israel closes both border crossings with Gaza after Palestinian rocket attack

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered the closure of both of Israel’s border crossings with Gaza on Wednesday after a Palestinian rocket attack hit a southern city prompting retaliatory airstrikes, AFP reports. Lieberman ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom goods crossing and the Erez crossing for people, and the reduction of the permitted fishing zone along the Gaza coast to three nautical miles, according to the Defense Ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, COGAT. A rocket fired by Palestinian militants hit a house in Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel, on Wednesday, Israel’s military said. Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes killed at least one person in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported, citing medics. The attacks came as Egyptian mediators try to negotiate a long-term ceasefire after months of violence along Gaza’s border with Israel.