Gaza blockade eased for Muslim festival

Israel has briefly eased its tight blockade of the Gaza Strip to ship in thousands of cattle ahead of a major Muslim holiday.

Eid al-Adha, which literally means "the festival of the sacrifice", will be celebrated later this month.

Beef is the central food to the traditional Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.

But the price is now very high in Gaza.

Khamees Shameya, Resident of Gaza, said, "We used to come to the butcher asking how much the meat costs. He used to answer 20 shekels. That's a bit over five US dollars. So we bought three or four kilograms. But today it's 60 shekels a kilo. So we can only buy 250 grams."

The price hike is attributed to Israel's blockade. It was imposed on the coastal territory after Hamas seized power there in June, 2007.

Generally, only humanitarian aid and limited commercial goods are allowed in.

Israeli farmers have not been able to export their cattle to Gaza for the past few years.

Farmers welcomed the government's decision to briefly ease the blockade and allow cattle to be shipped in for the Muslim holiday.

Tziki Kimmelman, Israeli Farmer, said, "This transfer is a gesture for the Palestinian holiday. We will ship 7-thousand cows, just like the agriculture minister promised. We really hope that we can send all of them, because things are very hard for all the farmers in Israel. We have large numbers of cattle in Israel and we've got nothing to do with them if we can't send them to Gaza."

The move could lower beef prices, but only for a short period. Butchers say they could offer regular price cuts if Israel allows cattle in more frequently.