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.

The Egyptian policy of openness toward the Gaza Strip came in the wake of the multiple visits made by leaders of the Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, to Egypt in early January. Several meetings were held with Egyptian officials with the aim of revisiting the tense relationship between the two sides. Tension had mounted after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rose to power in 2014 and Cairo accused Hamas of meddling in Egyptian affairs.

Khalil al-Zayan, the director of public relations and media at the Palestinian Ministry of Transportation, told Al-Monitor that the trucks were destined for the private sector in the Gaza Strip. Contacts were established between owners of concrete companies in Gaza and Egyptian companies specialized in the manufacturing of such equipment to ensure the arrival of the trucks into Gaza. Israel had refused to allow the entry of such trucks into Gaza, and some are concerned that it would pressure Egypt into preventing the entry of heavy construction trucks into the enclave.