Mideast envoy Blair expects construction material to flow into Gaza in 2-3 weeks

Blair: Gaza to get construction material soon

MADRID — Mideast envoy Tony Blair said Thursday he expects badly needed construction material to start flowing into the Gaza Strip in two to three weeks now that Israel has agreed to ease its blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.

The representative of the so-called Quartet of Mideast peacemakers said Israel is still finalizing its procedures for determining what will be allowed into Gaza and what will remain barred even after the choke hold is loosened.

“Once the Israelis have gotten their prohibited list of items, there will be a whole series of construction items that then should just come in as a matter of course,” Blair said after a meeting in Madrid with Spain’s premier. “So I presume that in the next two to three weeks we would see a significant shift in that.”

Israel has agreed to ease the blockade under international pressure over its deadly commando attack against a flotilla carrying international pro-Palestinian activists.

Construction material is crucial to rebuilding the destruction caused by the Israeli-Hamas war that began in December 2008. Israel launched the war in response to years of Hamas rocket attacks.

Israel fears items like cement and metal could be used for military purposes, and wants construction materials to enter under international supervision.

It remains unclear whether internationally backed projects will meet Gaza’s dire construction needs, since much of the damage occurred to private property.

Israel intercepted the flotilla on May 31 as the ships were trying to breach the three-year-old blockade of Gaza. Naval commandos clashed with pro-Palestinian activists on one of the ships, leaving nine Turkish activists dead. Both sides have said they acted in self defense.

Israel seized the aid on the ships, and reached a deal with the United Nations to transfer the goods to Gaza. It started arriving on Wednesday and the rest is scheduled to get there in the weeks ahead, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Also Thursday, Israeli military spokesman Maj. Guy Inbar said Israel and the Palestinian Authority had agreed to set up two working teams to determine how to transfer more goods into Gaza through Israeli-controlled land crossings and to handle international construction projects.

Israel has asked the Palestinian Authority to prioritize education, health and infrastructure projects that it wants built, he said.