Israel on Tuesday allowed the delivery of 24 rescue and firefighting vehicles into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.
The Gaza Civil Defense Authority owns 33 firetrucks that serve Gaza's 2 million people, including one firetruck with a hydraulic platform and was in desperate need of reinforcement.
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Raed al-Dahshan, a spokesman of Hama's Civil Defense Agency in the coastal enclave told local media that the 24 vehicles are a donation from Qatar and include firefighting and ambulances.
"The vehicles were shipped to the Gaza Strip through the Israeli-controlled crossing of Kerem Shalom on the borders between southern Gaza Strip and Israel," he said, adding "the vehicles are 4-by-4 equipped with water pumps."
According to Chinese news agency, Xinhua al-Dahshan described the delivery as "an unprecedented positive step amid an Israeli blockade that has been imposed on the territory since 2007."
Israel and Egypt imposed a maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip 12 years ago after Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group, seized control of the coastal enclave in a military coup. Israel maintains the move was and remains necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons and terrorists into the Strip.
Director of Civil Defense in Gaza Zuhari Shahin issued a statement saying the "Qatari donation was vital in light of the lack of financial resources."
Qatari Ambassador Mohammed Al-Emadi, who also head of the Qatari Committee to Reconstruct the Gaza, is scheduled to arrive in the Strip in the coming days.
The Gulf Arab state of Qatar is a key donor to Gaza and has provided aid and led development projects in recent years to support efforts to preserve the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
