Israel allows cement into Gaza

Israel has allowed cement to enter the Gaza Strip for the first time in two months, the Palestinian Al-Resaleh newspaper reported.

Israeli authorities have been imposing tight restrictions on the entry of cement into the Gaza Strip since mid-2007, with all imports passing through the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Director of the Kerem Shalom in Gaza, Muneer Al-Ghalban, said that 2,500 tonnes of cement should have been allowed to enter the Strip yesterday.

He stressed that Gaza is in urgent need of large amounts of cement to rebuild homes destroyed during the 2014 Israeli offensive.

On 19 April, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially banned the entry of cement into the Strip, claiming it was used by Palestinian resistance factions to build tunnels. The ban paralysed the construction industry and increase unemployment rates.