Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – Israel allowed the transfer of construction materials into Gaza Strip for projects to restore buildings following damage caused by rough weather, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced on Sunday. The Israeli Army Radio said that Defense Minister Ya'alon ordered government Gaza coordinator Gen. Eitan Dangot to approve the transfer of 1,000 tons of cement and construction materials to the strip for UN projects and last month's storm rehabilitation. The report quoted Dangot's spokesman as saying that this amount is even more than what was approved a few weeks ago and suspended in order for the Israeli army to locate smuggling tunnels. According to the report, the United Nations has expanded the number of aid programs in the Strip which were suspended after Egyptian authorities discovered the existence of tunnels used to smuggle weapons from the Sinai Peninsula. The Hamas government, that seized control over the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, sponsors hundreds of tunnels which are used to smuggle heavy equipment, people to and from Gaza as well as food and fuel to cope with Israel's siege of the coastal enclave. Israel imposed an economic siege on Gaza Strip in June 2006 when Hamas-led armed groups kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross border raid near the enclave. It tightened the siege in June 2007, when Hamas routed President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces and ousted his Fatah movement from the area. It calls its Gaza blockade a precaution against weapons reaching Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups by sea. Palestinians and their supporters say the blockade is illegal collective punishment.
