Sewing Thread and Ketchup permitted into Gaza for the first time in four years, Imports still at just 20 % of pre-siege imports

Ma'an - As Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip entered its fourth year last week, imports declined even amid an Israeli cabinet decision to 'liberalize' the siege announced on Thursday.

Crossings were closed on Friday, in keeping with Israel's siege policy since August 2009, before which crossings opened six days a week. Crossings liaison official Raed Fatttouh said the terminals were expected to open again on Sunday, following the scheduled closure for the Israeli weekend.

UN officials called Israel's decision to adjust its siege policy welcomed, but a UN report from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, noted that the "[a]dditional steps needed to implement the aforementioned decision have yet to be defined," leaving some skeptical over the actual change that will be wrought by the adjustments.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement on Thursday, saying he "hopes Israel’s announcement that it will ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip to allow more civilian goods to enter the territory will lead to an improvement in the lives of the 1.5 million Palestinians living there."

A weekly Protection of Civilians report released by the UN noted that imports remained low with a total of 573 trucks entering Gaza last week, amounting to some 20% of pre-siege imports.

Sewing thread and ketchup were permitted into Gaza for the first time in four years during the week, however, with two truckloads of the tomato product, and another two load of thread entered the Strip. Food and hygiene products made up 83% of imports, however.

Limited construction materials continued to enter last week, OCHA recorded, with glass, aluminum and wood, entering for the UNRWA construction project of 151 housing units in Khan Younis. The material made up a small portion of goods entering Gaza, a total of eight truckloads of gravel and another two of cement.

No exports

Zero truckloads of exports left Gaza, and Israel's adjustment to the siege did not include an opening of Gaza to the international marketplace.

On the fourth anniversary of the siege, OCHA noted that it "continues to undermine livelihoods and to prevent major reconstruction of houses and infrastructure."