Israel on Tuesday allowed the first shipment of glass into the Gaza Strip in years, a Palestinian official said.

"Three trucks carrying glass sheets went through Kerem Shalom crossing" in southeast Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, Said Ra'ed Fatouh, a liaison officer at the Palestinian side of the crossing.

The three trucks are part of 100 truckloads of glasses Israel decided to let into the war-torn Gaza Strip since it imposed a blockade on Gaza when Hamas took over the coastal strip in 2007.

Glasses and other building and raw materials have been embargoed as Israel allowed only basic food, medicine and fuel into the coastal enclave.

The closure blocks the reconstruction in Gaza where thousands of houses, factories, public and governmental institutions were destroyed in an three-week Israeli offensive a year ago.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2009)