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Israeli Goods Enter Gaza As Egypt Tightens Siege

Israel has slightly loosened the noose on Gaza in response to Egypt's renewed blockade on the Hamas-ruled enclave.
A Palestinian tunnel worker uses his mobile as he rests inside a smuggling tunnel beneath the Gaza-Egypt border in the southern Gaza Strip July 19, 2013. The Islamist group Hamas appealed to Egypt's new rulers on Thursday not to pursue its destruction of smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip, warning they risked throttling the small Palestinian territory. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX11ROK
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Many kinds of Israeli and European chocolate, biscuits and dairy products, all imported through Israeli companies, fill the shelves of the famous supermarket in al-Rammal, Gaza City. But that supermarket is not alone. A few meters away, a small grocery store is also filled with the same products. But Egyptian goods, which some time ago filled most of the shelf space, are missing.

Nasser al-Helou, a Gazan merchant, told Al-Monitor that a lot of imports now come from Israel and the West Bank. “Most goods now enter through the official Karam Abu Salem crossing after the [smuggling] tunnels were destroyed. The import quantities, especially goods that we had trouble importing because of cheaper alternatives in Egypt, have increased since about June. ... The goods that are the most in demand are milk, mineral water and cheese. But the consumers’ purchasing power is now weak because of the political situation.” He predicted that after mid-September, Gaza homes will have even more Israeli goods.

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