Israel will allow all “civilian” goods into the Gaza Strip while still preventing weapons from entering the Hamas-run territory, a senior Israeli official said on Sunday. The new policy is a response to mounting calls to ease the four-year siege on the impoverished enclave after Israeli forces killed nine activists during a May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships attempting to run the blockade. “We are committed to enable the flow of civilian goods to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” a senior official in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told AFP.
“From today, there is a green light for all goods to enter Gaza except for military items and material that can strengthen the Hamas military machine,” the official said as Netanyahu was meeting West Asia Quartet envoy Tony Blair to discuss easing the blockade.
The announcement came ahead of a planned July 6 meeting in Washington between Mr Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama, who has called the humanitarian situation in Gaza “unsustainable.”
Earlier in the day, Mr Netanyahu met his security Cabinet to discuss “practical steps” to ease the restrictions, following their decision on Thursday to change Israel’s policy, a statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office said. The plan is based on understandings reached by Mr Netanyahu and Mr 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 infrastructure dest-royed during a devastating 22-day war Israel launched in December 2008 to halt rocket attacks.
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Probe finds flaws in flotilla raid
Tel Aviv : An internal Israeli military investigation into the takeover of an aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip has revealed flaws in operation planning, and in the way naval commandos were used to seize the ships, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.
While the May 31 takeover of five of the six ships in the flotilla proceeded without incident, photographs and video released after the takeover of the vessels show that on the sixth ship naval commandos battled activists wielding iron bars and knives. Nine activists were killed on that ship. —DPA