Region | Palestinian Territories

Israel blocks goods bound for Gaza

Israel, the transit point for goods entering the Gaza Strip, ordered cargo shipments bound for the Hamas-controlled territory blocked, the Israeli customs authority said in a letter obtained by Reuters yesterday.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 23:37 June 18, 2007
  • Gulf News

Occupied Jerusalem: Israel, the transit point for goods entering the Gaza Strip, ordered cargo shipments bound for the Hamas-controlled territory blocked, the Israeli customs authority said in a letter obtained by Reuters yesterday.

But officials said shipments to Gaza, an impoverished enclave almost entirely dependent on imports and international aid, may be allowed to go through at a later date. Israel wants to isolate Hamas Islamists - economically, diplomatically and militarily - in the Gaza Strip, while allowing funds and trade to flow to the Western-backed emergency government set up in the occupied West Bank by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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