BICOM

Farmers in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip yesterday begun exporting hundreds of tons of produce to Europe after Israel open its border with Gaza for Palestinian goods. A truckload of strawberries left Gaza to launch the season, which is to run through May.

Israel has tightly controlled the flow of goods to and from Gaza since Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist movement opposed to Israel’s existence, violently ousted it rival Palestinian faction Fatah in June 2007.

Yousef Shaath of Gaza’s Agricultural Development Association said 250 farmers hope to export 600 tons of strawberries, 350 tons of bell peppers, 160 tons of cherry tomatoes and 17 million carnations, for estimated revenues of $25 million.

Still, exports out of Gaza remain under restrictions. Before the Hamas takeover, 85% of Gaza’s outgoing goods were sold in Israel and the West Bank, according to Gisha, an Israeli human rights group that lobbies on behalf of easing Palestinian travel restrictions, and unemployment is officially listed at 28%.

The IDF has given no comments explaining the easing the flow of produce from Gaza.