Collective punishment, pure and simple:
Israel has decided to allow coffee and tea into the besieged Gaza Strip starting on Thursday, a Palestinian official said.
Nasser As-Sarraj, undersecretary of the Ministry of National Economy said that Palestinian authorities received word from Israel of the change in policy, which apparently removes coffee and tea from a list of banned items.
Israel bans imports of hundreds of specific items into Gaza as a part of its blockade of the territory which began in June 2007. The government says the materials are banned for security reasons.