The Middle East envoy Tony Blair has told the BBC that he believes the International outcry which followed Israel's raid on aid flotilla at the end of May persuaded it toaccelerate the substantial easing of the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel has dropped restrictions on all consumer goods. Mr Blair said it was a big shift in policy and should improve the life of Gazans.

"Obviously, it's a big change to move from a list in which only some things permitted can come into Gaza to a prohibited list of the things coming as a matter of course unless prohibited. That should change the numbers of items coming into Gaza from around about just over a hundred to thousands of items being able to come in. So, obviously, that makes a big difference and should’ve been implemented to make a big difference to lives of Gazans."