Israel to ease Gaza blockade after weeks of pressure

ISRAEL approved a plan to ease its blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip following weeks of international pressure, but provided few details on what new goods would be allowed in.

The security cabinet’s decision was a response to mounting calls to ease the four-year blockade of the impoverished Palestinian territory in the wake of a deadly May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships.

Under the plan, Israel would “liberalise the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza (and) expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision,” a brief government statement said.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel would maintain its naval blockade and inspect all goods entering by land.

“The intention is to ensure that more goods can enter, but always after an Israeli check, which will ensure that there is no weaponry, no arms and no materials which could be used for warfare,” he said.

Hamas swiftly rejected the move, which senior leader Ismail Radwan dismissed as an attempt to “relieve the pressure” on Israel following the flotilla incident.

The plan is reportedly based on understandings reached by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair that call for switching from a list of allowed items to a list of banned goods.

It would also allow the entry of more construction materials for UN projects to rebuild homes and infrastructure destroyed during the devastating 22-day Gaza war, launched by srael in December 2008 to halt rocket attacks.

Currently thousands of products – some as banal as toilet paper and ginger are listed by Israel as constituting a “security” risk and prevented from reaching the territory’s 1.5 million residents.

An Israeli group that has closely tracked the closures said it was unclear whether the new plan would allow the kind of regular commerce needed to revive the economy in Gaza, where 80% of residents rely on foreign aid.