Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Gaza and extended the Strip's permitted fishing zone on Wednesday morning, after several days of relative calm along Israel's border with the enclave.
700 trucks full of goods entered the Gaza Strip throughout the day.
The move was announced by the military Wednesday morning, a day after Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said he would ease the restrictions if calm along the border continued to hold.
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Defense Minister Liberman on Wednesday called on residents of the Gaza Strip to maintain the relative quiet along the border that has been in place this week, saying doing so was in their best interest as evident by Israel's decision to reopen the main cargo crossing into the coastal enclave.
"Calm pays, violence doesn't," Liberman wrote in an Arabic-language Facebook post.
The defense minister made his comment as the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Gaza reopened, after being closed for over a month as punishment for the regular violence along the border, bouts of rocket fire and daily incendiary kite and balloon attacks since March 30.
Liberman also addressed the reports of negotiations for a long-term truce or hudna between Israel and Hamas. He said this would only be possible if the two civilians and two fallen IDF soldiers were returned.
"As for various proposals regarding a long-term settlement, they must first include an arrangement on prisoners of wars and Israeli soldiers missing in action. But what will ultimately be the deciding factor is not the proposals, but the reality on the ground, and lest anyone have any doubts: We will do everything to ensure the security of the citizens of Israel, and if Hamas turns to violence again, we will respond immediately and in a much more severe manner than before," he said.
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