Jerusalem, March 21  (RHC) – Israeli authorities allowed a 1000-ton shipment of cement to enter the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

The shipment was approved after negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel on one side and Qatar on the other.

Mohammed al-Amadi, who heads up the Qatari commission, alleged on Thursday that officials had used the Israeli border crossing because Egyptian authorities had prevented them from using the Rafah crossing.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian foreign ministry has criticised the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, after he called for the Rafah Crossing with the Gaza Strip to be opened.

Ministry spokesman Bader Abdul-Ati said that it is Egypt's "inherent right to take all measures needed to protect its borders and people." He called the closure of the Rafah crossing "a basic sovereign act."

On Monday, Serry called for Egypt, Israel and the international community to change their policies towards the Gaza Strip. The envoy had just ended a two-day visit to the besieged territory when he made his statement.