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Hamas warns Israel over tightened Gaza blockade

Xinhua, April 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Islamic Hamas movement warned Israel on Saturday over the banning of cements shipment and the tightening of the blockade that Israel has been imposing on the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Sami Abu Zuhri, the Islamic movement's spokesman, said in an emailed press statement that Hamas warns of the ongoing tightening of the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip.

"The recent Israeli decision of banning the shipment of cements to the Gaza Strip, the policy of suffocation and siege and the attempts to paralyze all aspects of life are all condemned and rejected," he said.

Hamas had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip following weeks of internal fighting with security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the summer of 2007. Israel considered Gaza a hostile entity and imposed a tight blockade on it.

Last week Israel decided to ban the shipment of cements to the coastal enclave after it said that its security forces unveiled an underground tunnel that goes from southern Gaza Strip into Israel.

Meanwhile, Eyad al-Bozzom, spokesman of the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, called on Egypt to reopen Rafah border crossing point between Gaza Strip and Egypt for humanitarian reasons. Endit