With Blockade Eased, Building Materials Enter Gaza

Thousands of tons of building materials, such as cement and steel, began crossing into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said, as Israel eased its five-year-old blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory.

Israel agreed to ease the blockade on Gaza under terms of a cease-fire that ended eight days of fierce fighting with Hamas last month, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.

Trucks carrying gravel for private construction entered Gaza from Israel for the first time since Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory.

Israel says 300 truckloads of goods are now entering Gaza each day.

The director of Gaza's border authority, Maher Abu Sabha, confirmed to The Associated Press that Qatar is paying for the raw materials that were bought in Egypt, to be transported through the Rafah border crossing.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57561274/with-blockade-eased-building-materials-enter-gaza/

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10 replies	Author	Time	Post
With Blockade Eased, Building Materials Enter Gaza (Original post)	Purveyor	Dec 2012	OP
Isreal will need the materials for the new settlements.	julian09	Dec 2012	#1
Beat me to it. nt	bunnies	Dec 2012	#2
Except there are no settlements in Gaza	oberliner	Dec 2012	#4
Bet you never knew there's no Israeli settlements in Gaza	King_David	Dec 2012	#3
I'm confused ...	holdencaufield	Dec 2012	#5
Who said it was "impossible"?	Scootaloo	Dec 2012	#6
Maybe they've run out of buildings to flatten? (nt)	Recursion	Jan 2013	#7
What can Israel do , ever, to get a little encouragement ?	King_David	Jan 2013	#8
Does Israel care what I think?	Recursion	Jan 2013	#9
Very True..well said.	King_David	Jan 2013	#10

Response to Purveyor (Original post)

Mon Dec 31, 2012, 02:27 PM

julian09 (1,435 posts)

1. Isreal will need the materials for the new settlements.

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Response to julian09 (Reply #1)

Mon Dec 31, 2012, 02:32 PM

bunnies (15,859 posts)

2. Beat me to it. nt

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Response to bunnies (Reply #2)

Mon Dec 31, 2012, 07:25 PM

oberliner (58,724 posts)

4. Except there are no settlements in Gaza

Haven't been for years.

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Response to julian09 (Reply #1)

Mon Dec 31, 2012, 05:01 PM

King_David (14,851 posts)

3. Bet you never knew there's no Israeli settlements in Gaza

They evacuated a long time ago..

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Response to Purveyor (Original post)

Mon Dec 31, 2012, 09:37 PM

holdencaufield (2,927 posts)

5. I'm confused ...

... many on this board have argued that it is impossible to bring materials through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt because it was unsuitable to trucks ... has something changed?

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Response to holdencaufield (Reply #5)

Mon Dec 31, 2012, 11:00 PM

Scootaloo (25,699 posts)

6. Who said it was "impossible"?

Of course it's not impossible... but the Rafah crossing isn't very suited for high-volume traffic;
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aDCvQA2s0xg/S8nPJosItLI/AAAAAAAAAS0/AxZDtXWvUxM/s1600/Rafah+border+crossing,+Egyptian+side+-+the+%27prohibited%27+gate.jpg

There are two ports; one entrance, one egress, both are single-lane. Of course you can get trucks in there... in single-file. Which would effectively close the crossing to non-pedestrian traffic. Plus each has to undergo the proper inspections and such...

"Impossible" is hyperbolic, but shipment through the Rafah crossing has clear logistics issues; Perhaps a joint Egyptian / Palestinian venture would be to add two additional shipping-specific ports and expand the roads in either direction as necessary.

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Response to Purveyor (Original post)

Tue Jan 1, 2013, 06:12 AM

Recursion (56,552 posts)