Farmers in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip started to export strawberry to the West Bank on Tuesday, the first time in eight years of blockade, a senior official in Gaza ministry of agriculture affirmed.

Tahsin al-Saqqa, director of marketing in the Gaza ministry of agriculture, said Israel allowed the export of strawberries from Gaza to the West Bank through Kerem Shalom commercial terminal on the border between southern Gaza Strip and Israel.

The first shipment of eight tons of strawberries was exported Tuesday, and another 150 tons are scheduled for every month, al-Saqqa said.

The Gaza Strip has been under a tight Israeli blockade since the Islamic Hamas movement violently took over the coastal enclave in the summer of 2007, since when Israel has imposed tight security restrictions on import and export.

Al-Saqqa also said exporting strawberries to Europe has been going on, and more than 60 tons were exported from the Gaza Strip to Europe last month.

Israel imposed restrictions on exporting strawberries to the West Bank in fear that such smuggling would harm Israeli strawberry farmers and vendors, according to Gaza farmers. Endit

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