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GAZA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Sunday closed down the borders between the Gaza Strip and Israel two days after one of its top militants was murdered by unknown gunmen, senior security officials said.
Eyad al-Bozzom, spokesman of the Hamas-run ministry of interior, said in an emailed press statement that the security apparatuses that belong to Hamas in Gaza has carried out a series of measures following the murder of Mazen Fuqaha'a.
On Friday night, unknown gunmen killed Fuqaha'a just at the entrance to his house in Gaza city. Fuqaha'a is a top Hamas militant, from the West Bank, who was released in an Egyptian-brokered prisoners swap deal with Israel in 2011.
Right after the murder, Hamas and other Palestinian factions held Israel responsible for the killing, adding that "the Israeli occupation and its collaborators are behind the assassination of Mazen Fuqaha'a."
"One of the security measures that were taken in the aftermath of murdering Fuqaha'a was the closure of the Hamas-controlled checkpoint that leads to Erez crossing point between northern Gaza Strip and Israel," said al-Bozzom.
He went on saying that among the security measures is to intensify watching the seaside of the Gaza Strip and erecting check points into the coastal enclave that has been ruled by Hamas since seizing it violently in 2007.
Al-Bozzom said that only humanitarian cases will be allowed to cross from the Gaza Strip through Beit Hanoun (Erez crossing) point, adding "these measures coincides with the ongoing investigations to unveil the murderers."
