18 December 2001
Israel recognizes the importance of agricultural products to the Palestinian economy
(Communicated by the Gaza DCO Spokesman)
Over the past number of days, despite the closure around Gaza due
to the security situation, the Gaza DCO reports that the Karni
crossing has been open to the passage of Palestinian agricultural
products for export to Israel and Europe.
Israel recognizes the importance of agricultural products to the
Palestinian economy, and is allowing these activities as part of
the policy of differentiating between terrorist sources and the
general population.
Since the season began three weeks ago, the following amounts
have been exported via the Karni crossing:
Flowers:
To Israel - 500,000
To Europe - 3,500,000
Strawberries:
To Israel - 30 tons
To Europe - 100 tons
Understanding the sensitivities of these products to time and
storage, Karni crossing has been open during the Eid al Fitr
holiday in order to facilitate the movement of the produce. This
action has been taken in coordination with the Gaza DCO, the
Palestinians and the IDF in the field.
It is our intention to continue allowing the export of
agricultural products in the coming days.