Building in Gaza: A Hamas official checks a truck loaded with gravel at the Kerem Shalom crossing. Image by haaretz/reuters

Israel for the first time in six years on Sunday allowed building materials for private projects to enter the Gaza Strip via its border crossings.

Ninety truckloads of cement, gravel and iron passed through the border, said Raed Fattouh, the Palestinian Authority liaison at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

It marked a easing of Israel’s of blockade of the coastal enclave that was first imposed in 2006, in response to the abduction of an Israeli soldier and rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The blockade was tightened the following year, when the Islamist Palestinian Hamas movement seized control of the Gaza Strip. Israel declared Gaza hostile territory and permitted the entry only of basic supplies to avoid a humanitarian crisis.

In 2010 Israel eased the blockade. The move came after Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish ship that breached its naval blockade of Gaza, killing nine pro-Palestinian activists. The vessel had been part of a flotilla transporting activists.

Restrictions on imports were lifted, with the exception of raw materials that Israel said could be used to build weapons or tunnels, including gravel and cement.

Israel allowed in some building materials, but only for internationally funded public projects.

Exports remained highly restricted however.

A network of tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border is used to smuggle such raw materials into Gaza. Egypt has closed many of the tunnels, in the wake of the ousting of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount