Israel approves plan to ease Gaza blockade

The Israeli Security Cabinet on Thursday approved a plan to ease the blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Under the plan, Israel would “liberalise the system by which civilian goods enter Gaza [and] expand the inflow of materials for civilian projects that are under international supervision”, the statement said.

But it also stressed that Israel would “continue existing security procedures to prevent the inflow of weapons and war materiel”.

Alongside the easing of the four-year blockade, the 15-member Security Cabinet said it expected the international community “to work toward the immediate release of Gilad Shalit”, the Israeli soldier snatched by Gaza-based militants in June 2006.

The Gaza blockade was first imposed by Israel in the aftermath of Shalit’s capture, but was tightened significantly after Hamas forcibly took over the Palestinian enclave a year later.

Israel has faced mounting calls to lift the blockade following its botched raid on an aid flotilla trying to run the Gaza blockade on May 31, in which nine Turkish activists were shot dead.—AFP