Israel published Monday its "black list" of goods it will not allow into the Gaza Strip, under a new policy whereby its four-year-old siege of the salient will now be defined by a list of goods to be kept out, rather than by those allowed in, dpa reported
The banned products include arms and munitions and items which could be used to develop, produce or enhance the military capabilities of the Gaza militias, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Also forbidden are what the ministry called "materials and equipment liable to be used for terror attacks and technology that could be used by terrorists."
This meant chemicals - including certain fertilizers which could be used in the manufacture of explosives - ball bearings, hunting knives and machetes, certain navigation aides, parachutes, gliders, flares and fireworks and missile-related technology.
Certain building materials - cements, ready concrete, steel elements, which militants could also use for military purposes - will be allowed into the enclave only to facilitate construction projects in Gaza which have been authorized by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and are implemented and monitored by the international community.
In a related development, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak met in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, to plan the transfer of humanitarian goods into the Strip.
Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza shortly after Gaza-based militants staged a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006, and snatched an Israeli soldier, who is still being held somewhere in the salient as talks on a possible prisoner swap grind on in fits and starts.
The Israeli cabinet, after coming under massive international pressure, decided in late June to significantly loosen the siege, a move both the PA, and its fierce rival, the Islamist Hamas movement which controls the Strip, said was insignificant.
However the daily Jerusalem Post reported last week that the Israeli defence ministry had begun preparing for the possibility of handing control of the crossing points into the Strip over to the PA.
In their meeting Monday, Barak and Fayyad also discussed coordination of joint Israeli-PA projects, and continuing Israeli-PA security and economic cooperation in the West Bank.