The Palestinian Authority and Israel signed an agreement to close Al-Mantar commercial crossing in east Gaza.

The crossing, considered the largest commercial one between Israel and the Gaza Strip, will be shut at the end of this month.

The Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam said that according to PA sources, the agreement designates the Karam Abou Salem crossing as the only commercial crossing to bring in imported products to the Gaza Strip that has been suffering a four year long Israeli blockade.

The Palestinian signatory was Minister of Civil Affairs and member of Fatah's Central Committee Hussein Al-Sheikh and Major-General Eitan Dangot, administrator of the crossing affairs from the Israeli side.

Gaza's de facto Hamas government condemned the step saying it was a "crime" against the Strip's Palestinians.

Hatem Oweida, Hamas' man in charge of the commercial crossings, said that the this decision represents new suffering and exacerbates the people's already terrible economic situation.

The Abou Salem crossing is not fully prepared to handle the traffic entering and exiting the Strip, Oweida explained.

Palestinian commercial analyst Omar Shaaban expects the closing of the crossing to spike inflation in Gaza and affect its infrastructure projects.