A Palestinian farmer collects red carnations in a flower farm in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 12, 2009. Israel granted special approval for the export of 25,000 Palestinian flowers from the Gaza Strip to the Dutch market for the Valentine's Day. For the first time in a year, a lorry load of carnations was allowed to cross from Gaza into Israel, military spokesman Peter Lerner said, following a request from the Netherlands that prompted Israel to make a rare exception to the blockade it has imposed on Gaza since Hamas seized control in 2007. [Xinhua]