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Gaza receives first batch of construction trucks in 10 years

The Egyptian authorities allowed for dozens of trucks carrying construction materials to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, as part of its openness policy toward the small enclave that has been besieged by Israel since 2007.
A Palestinian man stands next to a truck loaded with bags of cement at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and southern Gaza Strip May 23, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTSFJF6
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In the context of the recent openness policy that Egypt has come to adopt toward the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian authorities allowed the entry of dozens of trucks loaded with construction materials and food through the Rafah crossing on March 9. For the first time since the siege on Gaza, Egypt allowed the entry of heavy construction trucks, namely concrete pumps. Ten years ago, Israel had banned concrete and several other substances in Gaza for being of dual use (civilian and military).

The industrial sector in the Gaza Strip expects these deliveries to help finance the deficit in the construction field in the Gaza Strip, as the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza destroyed more than 65% of construction facilities. The trucks, however, have raised the ire of Israel, according to whom the deliveries damage its own interests given that Hamas could use the goods — along with other construction materials — to build attack tunnels into Israel.

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