GAZA STRIP:ISRAEL BEGAN to ease its blockade on Gaza yesterday, gradually increasing the flow of food products into the besieged coastal strip, as the truce with Hamas held for a fourth day.
An Israeli army spokesman said the number of truckloads laden with food that Israel was allowing into Gaza had increased from 60 to 90. The foodstuffs included fruit, vegetables and milk.
If the truce continues to hold, in the coming days Israel will renew delivery of raw materials to Gaza, including more fuel supplies. In response to ongoing rocket attacks by Gaza militants, Israel had severely limited the supply of fuel to the strip, crippling transportation.
Palestinian officials complained that the increase in goods yesterday was minimal and would do little to alleviate the harsh humanitarian situation in Gaza. But they said that if the calm endured, they expected Israel to increase both the quantity and range of goods it allowed into the strip. As part of the truce deal, Israel is also expected to begin opening Gaza's border crossings, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
Human rights groups released a report three months ago warning that the Israeli embargo on Gaza's 1.5 million residents had created the worst humanitarian crisis in the strip since Israel seized control of the area in the 1967 Middle East war. The report said the blockade had deepened poverty and contributed to 80 per cent of Gazans becoming dependent on food aid.
Israel had conditioned its agreement to a truce on the release of Cpl Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas in Gaza for two years, but later dropped this demand. Cpl Shalit was snatched in a cross-border raid by Hamas militants in June 2006.
Cpl Shalit's parents yesterday petitioned the Israeli high court of justice demanding that the government explain why the truce deal was not made contingent on their son's release. The family said that prime minister Ehud Olmert and other officials had told them that the Gaza border crossings would remain closed as long as their son was held by Hamas.
The court issued a temporary injunction stipulating that the crossings would not be opened before midday today, giving time for Noam Shalit, the soldier's father, to meet Amos Gilad, the defence ministry official who negotiated the truce on Israel's behalf. It is highly unlikely, though, that the court will intervene in the government's decision to authorise a truce.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the Islamist group would not be able to judge Israel's commitment to lifting the blockade "until they have removed the ban and the restrictions on the numbers and the types of materials and goods needed for our people in Gaza".
Raed Fattouh, who oversees the supply of goods to Gaza on behalf of Mahmoud Abbas's government in the occupied West Bank, questioned whether Israel was serious about easing the embargo.
While Israel increased the number of trucks, it did not expand the range of goods allowed through the crossing, he said.
- (Additional reporting, Reuters)