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The
customs authority said it had stopped for inspection in July two
containers carrying 54 tons of what were supposed to be bags of
plaster.
A lab test confirmed some of the bags contained ammonium
chloride, the authority added, which it said was used by groups
in Gaza "to produce rockets that are eventually launched towards
Israel".
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem described the report as
"lies".
"The occupation is forging lies as a pretext to tighten the
blockade on Gaza," Qassem told Reuters.
Gaza is home to some 2.3 million Palestinians who live in one of
the world's most densely populated areas. Since the Islamist
movement took over Gaza in 2007, Israel, together with Egypt,
has maintained a blockade that has devastated the coastal
enclave's economy.
Israel and Hamas have fought several wars since 2008, with
thousands of rockets fired from Gaza and Israel launching air
strikes on the enclave.
With uncertainty growing over who will succeed 87-year-old
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas has stepped up
efforts to attract support in the occupied West Bank, a
geographically separate territory which Palestinians want as the
core of an independent state.
Earlier this month, Israel froze the export of commercial goods
from Gaza for several days due to what it said was an attempt to
smuggle explosives. Palestinians said the brief ban hit
thousands of families.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Henriette Chacar; Editing by
David Holmes)
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