Israel allows Gaza to export a shipment of clothes for first time in five years

GAZA May 14 (Reuters) - Israel allowed on Monday the export of Palestinian-made clothes from the Gaza Strip for the first time in at least five years, a Palestinian official said.

Raed Fattouh, who coordinates supplies into Gaza, said a truck carrying 2,000 pieces of mainly woollen garments were exported through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing towards an Israeli seaport en route to Britain.

Home to 1.7 million people, Gaza has been under tight embargo by both Israel and Egypt since the Islamist group Hamas took control of the coastal enclave in 2007.

Under international pressure, Israel eased import curbs in 2010, but for the most part businesses cannot export.

There was no indication of when the next shipment of clothing would be let out of Gaza and Fattouh said merchants were still awaiting an Israeli agreement to let them begin exporting furniture. more

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