GAZA: Israel will allow the export of commercial goods from the Gaza Strip through a main border crossing from Sunday after a days-long ban for what it called an attempt to smuggle explosives, Palestinian officials said on Friday.
Palestinians said the ban hit thousands of families and could ruin livelihoods in the blockaded enclave.
Israel said on Monday it was temporarily stopping commercial goods from leaving Gaza after inspectors found several kilograms of “high-quality explosives” in a shipment, hidden in the lining of clothes.
“A short while ago, the Israeli side informed us of the decision by the Israeli government to resume exports from Gaza Strip through Kerem Shalom crossing starting Sunday, the same way it used to be before the closure,” said a statement by the Palestinian Authority’s committee that liaises on the movement of goods in and out of Gaza.
There was no immediate comment from COGAT, the Israeli authority that coordinates administration with the Palestinian Territories.
Since the Hamas Islamist group took power in Gaza in 2007, it has suffered from one of the world’s highest unemployment rates under a blockade of many goods imposed by Israel with Egyptian backing. It has also been severely damaged in four major wars and numerous other clashes between Hamas and Israel.
Israel to end ban on exports from Gaza on Sunday — officials
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Israel to end ban on exports from Gaza on Sunday — officials
- Palestinians said the ban hit thousands of families and could ruin livelihoods in the blockaded enclave
- Israel said on Monday it was temporarily stopping commercial goods from leaving Gaza
Ankara city hall says water cuts due to ‘record drought’
- Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 percent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara
ANKARA: Water cuts for the past several weeks in Turkiye’s capital were due to the worst drought in 50 years and an exploding population, a municipal official told AFP, rejecting accusations of mismanagement.
Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 percent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara, forcing many residents to line up at public fountains to fill pitchers.
“2025 was a record year in terms of drought. The amount of water feeding the dams fell to historically low levels, to 182 million cubic meters in 2025, compared with 400 to 600 million cubic meters in previous years. This is the driest period in the last 50 years,” said Memduh Akcay, director general of the Ankara municipal water authority.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Ankara municipal authorities, led by the main opposition party, “incompetent.”
Rejecting this criticism, the city hall says Ankara is suffering from the effects of climate change and a growing population, which has doubled since the 1990s to nearly six million inhabitants.
“In addition to reduced precipitation, the irregularity of rainfall patterns, the decline in snowfall, and the rapid conversion of precipitation into runoff (due to urbanization) prevent the dams from refilling effectively,” Akcay said.
A new pumping system drawing water from below the required level in dams will ensure no water cuts this weekend, Ankara’s city hall said, but added that the problem would persist in the absence of sufficient rainfall.
Much of Turkiye experienced a historic drought in 2025. The municipality of Izmir, the country’s third-largest city on the Aegean coast, has imposed daily water cuts since last summer.
