New scanner at Gaza crossing to speed rebuilding efforts

The Dutch foreign minister inaugurated a security scanner Wednesday donated by the Dutch government that he says will increase the truckloads of supplies that enter Gaza from Israel and speed up efforts to rebuild the territory.

Israel allows trucks carrying construction materials into the Gaza Strip under strict security measures. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, who is visiting the region, said the scanner will ease the processing of the various materials.

The addition of the scanner is part of an agreement with COGAT, the defense body that handles civilian issues with the Palestinians, manages the crossings with the Gaza Strip, and which is involved in reconstruction efforts for Gaza.

1/2Maj.Gen.Poly Mordechai & the Dutch Ambassador to #Israel signing on the donation of a new scanner for #KeremShalom pic.twitter.com/hiBVu8tbiU

— COGAT (@cogatonline) July 15, 2015

Some 600 trucks cross into Gaza from Israel daily, according to COGAT. Some 1,000 trucks are expected to cross with the new scanner, according to COGAT and the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

Reconstruction efforts in Gaza have made little progress since last summer’s war between Israel and Hamas and tens of thousands remain displaced. Others are still living in damaged apartments.

The 50-day war killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Palestinian sources in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and 73 Israelis, 66 of them soldiers.