Second Thoughts in Gaza on Lifting the Siege

(Economist-UK) Since Netanyahu's promise to ease the blockade, an eerie silence has fallen over Gaza's border with Egypt, which hitherto echoed to the whirl of a thousand winches hauling goods to the surface. Now shopkeepers fear being lumbered with shelves of unwanted tunnel-tattered products, as Israel's neater goods pour in. Some tunnellers, burdened by Hamas taxes and market saturation, are closing down. Others will survive: Marlboro cigarettes from Egypt are half the cost of Israel's version, even after Hamas' tax. Egyptian petrol is cheaper still.


2010-06-25 09:32:30

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