Gaza minister ends boycott of Israeli products that never existed

A bizarre article in Ma'an:

Gaza's Ministry of Economy said Sunday that it would allow the entry of Israeli products into the Gaza Strip for the first time in five years.

Imad al-Baz, assistant deputy of the ministry, said soft drinks, clothes, coffee, and other Israeli goods would be allowed into the Strip.

"The last war led to the destruction of thousands of factories, which affected the production power (in Gaza), and to fill that gap we decided to allow Zionist products in," al-Baz said.

"The war damaged the production ability of factories and the nature and quality of the product, because some raw materials are not allowed in" due to the blockade.

"We decided to allow (Israeli) products to enter so that the market is not hindered and so products are available," al-Baz added.

But Israeli consumer products have been seen in Gaza continuously over the past five years.

Since a photo essay that I published in 2011 that showed everything from Israeli snacks by Osem to Chanukah gelt being sold, that same Metro Market in Gaza City has featured many Israeli items on its Facebook page.

Corn Flakes in 2012:

Chicken in 2013:

Ice cream and Krembo in 2014:

Laundry detergent in 2015:

Here is a 2012 video showing how many goods are able to enter Gaza and into this supermarket (including Israeli products):





So unless Gaza officials are loosening their restrictions on specific Israeli product categories that had been not allowed into Gaza (I wonder what Gisha thinks of that,) I don't understand what this announcement is about. There is no reason why coffee and clothing and soft drinks cannot be imported via Europe through Kerem Shalom while keeping Gaza clean of those Zionist products.