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Israel eases restrictions of Gaza blockade
Israel on Monday announced a major change in the way it will manage the country's controversial blockade of the Gaza Strip, a move Israeli officials hope will ease tensions with the Obama administration on the eve of a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israelis will no longer block merchandise from entry to Gaza through a limited list of permitted items that often changed. Instead, the Israelis published a list of prohibited items; everything else is permitted.
That should lead to an increase in consumer goods available to Gaza's 1.5 million residents. Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who is the Mideast envoy for the so-called quartet of nations monitoring peace efforts, called the change "significant."