Israel is easing its Gaza embargo to allow snack food and drinks into the Palestinian enclave, Reuters quoted Palestinian officials as saying on Wednesday, following an international outcry over Israel's raid on an aid flotilla. Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, said the territory needs cement -- banned by Israel and essential for reconstruction after a December 2008-January 2009 war -- not soft drinks. An Israeli official said the new product list, announced hours before U.S. President Barack Obama was to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington, was unrelated to Israel's May 31 takeover of the convoy that challenged its Gaza blockade. The Palestinian officials, based in the West Bank, said that as of next week, Israel will allow a wider variety of food, such as potato crisps, biscuits, canned fruit and packaged humous, as well as soft drinks and juice, into the Gaza Strip. "They will send the first course. We are waiting for the main course," Palestinian Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said in Ramallah. "We are waiting for this unjust siege to end." The United Nations says the Israeli blockade has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, an allegation Israel denies. -- SPA
