The new policy is a response to mounting calls to ease Israel's four-year siege on the impoverished enclave after Israeli forces killed nine activists during a May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships attempting to run the blockade.Make no mistake, this is vitally needed in Gaza, but the arbitrary banning of civilian goods like newspapers and chickens were just that: arbitrary punishment for Palestinians living in Gaza in order to get them to turn on Hamas. It took a couple of years, but the Palestinians finally made it backfire on Israel with the world's attention drawn to the list of items that Israel would not allow in.
"The Israeli government has today taken additional steps to further enable the flow of civilian goods to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip," said government spokesman Mark Regev.
"From now on, there is a green light approval for all goods to enter Gaza except for military items and materials that can strengthen Hamas's military machine," he said.
The decision was formally announced following a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair, who has been spearheading discussions on easing the closures.
"The practical effect of this should change radically the flow of goods and material into Gaza," Blair said in a statement.
Israel will soon publish a list of banned items including "only weapons, material used in combat and problematic dual-use items. All goods not on the list will be allowed into Gaza," the government said in a statement.
It will also allow for the "expanded entry of dual-use building materiel" for projects authorised by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority with "international oversight."
It doesn't hurt them at all to allow any of these items in now, and that was the plan all along. Now Israel is "reasonable" and merciful. And they'll play that angle for as long as they can continue to collectively punish Gaza.
Both the good cop and the bad cop are Israel.
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