US pressure leads to first Gaza cattle shipment in months

Date: 21 / 06 / 2009  Time:  09:56
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

The Israeli occupation government has allowed a shipment of cattle into the Gaza Strip for the first time in nine months on Sunday, according to news reports.

Israel's coordinator for activities in the occupied territories, Amos Gilad, reportedly allowed the 350-cattle shipment into the besieged strip after US pressure on Israel to lift restrictions of food into Gaza, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The newspaper quoted sources who also pointed out the planned visit of the country's defense ministry, Ehud Barak, to Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Haaretz also reported that preparations are ongoing for the importation of more cattle next week, and for nearly 4,000 during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in September this year.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a near-total blockade of the Strip by land and sea since June 2007, and the quantities and types of goods allowed into Gaza are subject to tight restrictions.

The decision to allow cattle into Gaza came amid reports from Israel's veterinary services department within its Agriculture Ministry that the smuggling of livestock into Gaza via the Sinai could pose a threat to public health.

Since Palestinians have been forced to smuggle in cattle and other foodstuffs from countries such as Somalia in recent years, Israeli authorities are concerned about the spread of a number of animal illnesses, such as mad cow disease, foot-and-mouth disease, and Brucellosis, which can pose a risk to humans.