The Israeli army has accused Hamas of launching three missiles into Israel late on Friday.

Israel’s decision to restrict its single gate for Palestinian labourers coming from Gaza has been criticised as “collective punishment” of the impoverished territory’s two million Palestinians, who have endured a nearly 15-year Israeli-Egyptian embargo.

The decision comes after the Israeli army accused Hamas, the militant organisation that administers Gaza, of shooting three rockets into Israel late on Friday, as tensions rise during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

One hit an open field in Israel, while another landed in Palestinian territory, according to the Israeli army, which did not provide any details on the third.

The Israeli army stated earlier this week that four rockets were fired from Gaza but were intercepted by air defence systems.

“Following the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory last night, it was decided that crossings into Israel for Gazan merchants and workers through the Erez Crossing will not be permitted this coming Sunday,” COGAT, a unit of the defence ministry in charge of Palestinian civil affairs, said in a statement.

The Gaza workers’ union called the shutdown “collective punishment” that will wreak havoc on the already ailing economy, which has a 50 percent unemployment rate.

It said that the closure’s timing, right before the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the conclusion of Ramadan, will exacerbate the misery for families struggling to make ends meet.

The licences themselves, according to Sami Amassi, were designed to “exploit” the employees for political goals rather than better their lives.

The plan, according to Hamas spokesman Hazem Wassem, “aims to tighten the blockade and is a type of violence that we cannot tolerate.”

“This isn’t going to work. He told The Associated Press that “the policy of collective punishment against Palestinians has always failed.”