Palestinian workers rebuild a house in Gaza City, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. Israel has started allowing long-banned building materials into the Gaza Strip, its first key concession to the territory's Hamas rulers under a cease-fire that ended eight days of intense fighting last month, the military said Monday. A Hamas official described the quantity sent so far as "cosmetic" and Gaza economists said it would take years of round-the-clock shipments to even make a dent in the gap left by the five years of blockade. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Clarification: Israel-Palestinians story
Published: 07:57:25 PM, Tue 01 January 2013 UTC
JERUSALEM (AP) — In a story Dec. 31, The Associated Press reported that Israel dropped a 5 1/2-year-old ban that prevented construction materials from entering the Gaza Strip. The story should have made clear that the ban applied to Gaza's private sector. Under the closure, imposed following the Hamas militant group's takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israel allowed small amounts of construction goods into Gaza for humanitarian projects. In 2010 it began allowing such materials for projects under the auspices of the United Nations. Monday's announcement by Israel, part of a cease-fire deal reached with Hamas in November, further eases the ban by allowing private businesses to ship in building materials.
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