The Zionist forces closed the Gaza Strip’s only functioning commercial crossing, Kerem Shalom, on Thursday for the Jewish holiday of Purim.

The Zionist forces closed the Gaza Strip's only functioning commercial crossing, Kerem Shalom, on Thursday for the Jewish holiday of Purim, a Palestinian official said.

Mounir al-Ghalban of Gaza's border authority said "the Israeli closure would disrupt trade traffic in the strip and negatively affect the humanitarian situation in the embattled enclave."

Blockaded by the Zionist entity – by air, land and sea – since 2007, the Gaza Strip has seven border crossings linking it to the outside world.

Six of these crossings are controlled by the occupation authorities, while a seventh – the Rafah crossing – is controlled by Egypt, which continues to keep it tightly sealed for the most part.

As it currently stands, Israeli authorities only allow the Kerem Shalom crossing – which links Gaza to both the Zionist entity and Egypt – to operate, and that for commercial purposes only.