Gaza's Pepsi bottling company was forced to halt operations this week due to Israeli import restrictions that were tightened during an 11-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants last month, the company's owners say.
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"Yesterday [Sunday], we completely ran out of raw materials, and unfortunately, we had to shut down the factory, sending home 250 workers," Hamam al-Yazeji said. Before the May fighting, he said, Pepsi Gaza was generally allowed to import needed materials.
Asked for comment, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, a branch of Israel's Defense Ministry, said: "Due to the security situation, the import of industrial raw materials from the State of Israel into the Gaza Strip is not possible."
