Just a day after having announced it would ease restrictions, Israel has once again closed all trade crossings leading to the Gaza Strip.

Under international pressure, Israel declared on Thursday that it agreed to a plan to ease the blockade of Gaza.

Pundits say Israel made the move to assuage the world’s anger over last month’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla which left nine Turkish activists dead.

Hamas officials responded immediately, saying that Israel’s decision to ease the blockade of Gaza is a trick to deceive the international community so that it can continue the siege of the territory.

“The trade crossings’ closure will end on Sunday, unless Israel once again extends it,” Border Crossings Authority official Raed Fattouh said in Gaza on Saturday.

He stated that Israel declared the crossings open on Thursday and then shut them down on Friday.

Israel has permitted the entry of some 200 selected items in recent weeks, but most goods allowed into Gaza are food products in addition to wood, aluminum, and glass, he explained.

Fattouh added that the permitted goods do not satisfy the needs of the people of Gaza since construction materials and materials needed for factories and other basic supplies are still not allowed in.

(Press TV)