Israel announced yesterday it will allow all strictly "civilian" goods into Gaza while preventing a specific list of weapons and dual-use items from entering the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. The new policy is a response to mounting calls to ease Israel's 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.
"The Israeli government has today taken additional steps to further enable the flow of civilian goods to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip," said government spokesman Mark Regev.
"From now on, there is a green light approval for all goods to enter Gaza except for military items and materials that can strengthen Hamas's military machine," he said.
The decision was formally announced following a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair, who has been spearheading discussions on easing the closures.
"The practical effect of this should change radically the flow of goods and material into Gaza," Mr Blair said in a statement.
Israel will soon publish a list of banned items including "only weapons, material used in combat and problematic dual-use items. All goods not on the list will be allowed into Gaza," the government said in a statement. It will also allow for the "expanded entry of dual-use building materiel" for projects authorised by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority with "international oversight."
Authorities plan to expand the operations of land crossings from Israel into Gaza that are currently open and to reopen other terminals if "security demands" are met.
The new plan also aims to "streamline the entrance and exit policy for humanitarian and medical cases."
Egypt, which has largely kept its own Rafah crossing with Gaza closed since 2006, earlier this month opened it for students, patients, visa-holders, and additional humanitarian aid. 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 with his security cabinet to discuss "practical steps" to ease the restrictions, his office said.
The entry of increasing amounts of construction materials for UN projects could allow for more desperately needed reconstruction following Israel's devastating 22-day offensive launched in December 2008 to halt rocket attacks.
But it was not immediately clear whether the new plan would allow for increased travel or for the export channels needed by Gaza's once-flourishing private sector, which has been decimated by the blockade.
Currently thousands of products - some as banal as toilet paper and ginger - are listed by Israel as constituting a "security" risk and prevented from reaching the territory's 1.5 million residents.