As you can see by the strikethroughs and things we have put in bold, we had to edit the following AP piece a bit for the sake of accuracy and honesty:
(
AP) Israel agreed Thursday to ease its three-year-old land blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, hoping to quell international outrage over its deadly raid on a flotilla bound for
the Palestinian territory Hamas-controlled Gaza.
....The decision reflected the intense pressure Israeli leaders felt after an international outcry over the May 31 raid on a blockade-busting flotilla. Israeli commandos
killed nine pro-Palestinian activists....
defended themselves against Islamic terrorists trying to aid and abet Hamas.
Israel imposed the blockade in 2007 after Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction,
promotes Jew hatred and murder in its charter, which quotes antisemitic Islamic sources directly,
violently seized control of Gaza and was democratically elected by its many supporters in the region. It was meant to prevent the Iranian-backed group from arming and to put pressure on it to free a captive Israeli soldier.
But it has failed to weaken Hamas or bring the soldier home, while grinding the already impoverished economy to a standstill. The sanctions
have cost tens of thousands of jobs, shuttered hundreds of factories, banned exports and prevented Gaza from rebuilding thousands of homes and buildings destroyed in an Israeli military offensive last year. Ordinary Gazans have suffered the most helped keep Jews in Israel safe.
Israel's shift came just one week after President Barack Obama,
the country's most important ally the most anti-Israel US president in history, said the blockade was unsustainable and
called for scaling it back dramatically. Israeli officials said the Cabinet decision was made after consultations with Europe and the U.S., which have both been pressing for
changes since the raid Israel to submit to Islamic terrorist demands.
The international
Jew hating community welcomed the easing, but urged Israel to do more to
reopen Gaza's borders and revive its stagnant economy put its security at risk and reward Islamic terrorists. International Mideast envoy Tony Blair called it "an important step t
oward easing the lives of Palestinians in Gaza toward the destruction of the evil Zionist entity."
He said a system must be reached that prevents weapons from entering Gaza while "allowing into Gaza the items of ordinary daily life." He also said the international community would work with Israel in the coming days to "flesh out the principles now agreed."
Hamas was not satisfied
with Blair desperately trying to satisfy them.
"We want a real lifting of the siege, not window-dressing," said Hamas
lawmaker terrorist Salah Bardawil.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was encouraged by the Israeli decision and hoped it would be "a real step towards
meeting needs in Gaza the destruction of Israel," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
Nesirky said the U.N, wants a "fundamental change" to allow
humanitarian assistance, goods and people weapons, money, and terrorists to cross freely and
rebuilding real Islamic terrorism against the Jewish State to begin.
For the most part, the blockade only allowed in basic humanitarian goods for a population of 1.5 million. Israel severely limited goods such as cement and steel, fearing Hamas
militants terrorists could use them to build weapons and fortifications. It also limited what foods could enter.
"This morning, the government of Israel
took decisions to liberalize the system under which civilian goods may enter the Gaza Strip, to expand materials for projects inside Gaza which are under international supervision, submitted to Obama's demands, aided and abetted the terrorists, and put Jews at great risk," government spokesman Mark Regev said.
While the easing seemed to buy Israel some time with the international community, it appeared unlikely to significantly change the
quality of life in Gaza. Most food items prohibited by Israel already came in through smuggling tunnels along the southern border with Egypt.
Egypt had cooperated for years in the blockade by closing its land border with Gaza. But in another sign that Israel will no longer be able to maintain its stranglehold over Gaza after the
flotilla raid, Egypt loosened border controls,
wanting to help its Islamic terrorist brethren in the days after the clash.
In any case, the blockade
failed helped to achieve its aim of stanching the flow of weapons to Gaza,
despite a network of smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border became a conduit for both weapons and commercial goods sold at black market prices. Gazans
sank deeper into poverty continued to thrive,
turning continuing to turn their anger against Israel
not their Hamas rulers,
as they express support for the Islamic terrorist group, Hamas, that they elected.
In the West Bank, the
pro-Western Palestinian the
Islamic terrorist organization leader of Fatah, President Mahmoud Abbas, also criticized Israel's decision. Negotiator Saeb Erekat said the closure should be ended altogether.
Organizers Islamic terrorist supporters of two blockade-busting ships setting sail from Lebanon said their vessels would leave for Gaza early next week. They said the ships would
carry cancer medication help destroy the Zionist cancer that is Israel, and that
Islamic terrorist plan to hide behind 50 women from various religious sects, Arab countries, Europe and the U.S. would be on board.
