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Israel permits exports from Gaza to West Bank
Export of goods from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank will commence today for the first time since Hamas took control of the strip in 2006.
The first two truckloads of date bars will leave Gaza on Tuesday, as part of a World Food Programme project that provides school meals to children in the West Bank. Altogether, 13 truckloads of exports will be permitted.
Until Hamas’s violent coup of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, 85 per cent of its exports went to the West Bank, according to the Israeli NGO Gisha – The Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement.
“This is an important step toward fulfilling the Israeli government’s commitment to allow economic development for Palestinians living in Gaza,” said Gisha’s director, Sari Bashi.
Maj. Guy Inbar, the spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, would not comment whether the pilot programme will continue beyond this shipment.