Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Despite Unrest

JERUSALEM, Israel –  Israel on Tuesday allowed dozens of trucks carrying construction materials into the Gaza Strip to help rebuild the coastal enclave following May’s 11-day war.

The import comes amid escalating tensions on Israel’s border with Gaza, where Palestinians have held daily demonstrations in protest of Israel’s blockade over the territory. Gazans have launched incendiary balloons into Israel, burned tires, and hurled explosives at Israeli soldiers on the other side of the border.

An Israeli border police officer died on Monday after being shot at point-blank range by a Palestinian demonstrator on Aug. 21. Meanwhile, two Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy and a Hamas terrorist, were killed by Israeli fire.

Israel allowed the entry of the construction materials into Gaza to help calm the situation and COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian issues, said last week it would “expand the entry of goods and equipment for international civilian projects in the Gaza Strip.”

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Bassam Ghabin, director of the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing, said that 30 truckloads of cement, 120 trucks of gravel and 15 trucks of steel were imported into Gaza on Tuesday. He said the materials began entering on Monday, and that the border crossing was operating almost at the same capacity as before the war.

Despite the influx of goods, Gazans demonstrated on the border Tuesday night and vowed to continue the evening protests until at least Thursday.

Egypt, which has helped Israel maintain the blockade over Gaza since Hamas seized power in 2007, is trying to broker a long-term ceasefire agreement between the two sides.