Israel allows cars into Gaza for first time in years
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Israel allowed new cars to enter the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for the first time in more than three years, Palestinian officials said on Monday.
Israel had promised the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to continue shipping cars to Gaza "at regular and steady level," said Palestinian Transportation Minister Sa'di al-Krunz.
The first shipment comprises 20 private cars and was delivered on Monday afternoon through Kerem Shalom crossing point in southeast Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Ismail Nakhala, head of cars importers union, said " this shipment of cars is only part of the 1,000 requests submitted by Gaza importers to the Israeli authorities."
The cars which entered Gaza on Monday were mainly manufactured in 2007 and 2008, and only a few of them were produced this year, said Nakhala, adding that most of them were Hyundai, Volkswagen and Skoda.
Nakhala described the Israeli decision to lift the ban on cars import as "positive," saying it will "restore balance to the prices of cars and fill the big shortage that accumulated over the past three years."
Gaza needs at least 5,000 cars to meet the demands of new cars, added Nakhala.
During its strict blockade on Gaza between June 2007 and June 2010, Israel did not allow any new or used vehicles to enter, except for a handful of cars for international organizations like the UN.
Lifting the ban on cars import came as part of a new Israeli policy towards Gaza, aimed at cooling down international opposition to the Gaza blockade fueled by a lethal Israeli raid on a Turkish Gaza-bound aid flotilla on May 31.
Technical obstacles and political differences between the West Bank-based PNA and Islamic Hamas movement delayed shipping cars to Gaza for weeks.
Differences between the PNA and Hamas focused on taxing the cars and issuing licenses to them.
Meanwhile, Hamas Transportation Ministry said in a statement that it will check the cars "from a technical prospect" before handing them down to their owners.
Last week, Israel also allowed spare parts and engine oil to enter Gaza for the first time since the blockade was imposed.
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