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Gaza scrap collectors finally back in business

Following years of interruption due to Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, the scrap trade there has resumed, sparking economic hope.
A Palestinian worker straightens scrap metal collected from the rubble of a hotel in Gaza City that was destroyed during Israel's three-week offensive nearly two years ago November 7, 2010. Thousands of Gazans, mainly young men and boys, go close to a no-go border zone in the Gaza Strip daily to pick over the wreckage of factories and houses flattened by Israel in the past few years in its conflict with Islamist Hamas militants who control the enclave. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) -
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RAFAH, Gaza Strip — After seeing their profession almost disappear, scrap collectors once again are roaming the cities and camps of the Gaza Strip in their carts and tuk-tuks (moterized rickshaws). The work isn't easy and has its hazards, but the workers are glad to be back in business.

The collectors buy discarded metal products such as refrigerators, washing machines and electrical cables. The products are stored, sorted, cleaned and then exported to smelting factories in Israel for recycling.

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