Israel will send guarded trucks from the Brink's Company to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in order to replace worn-out currency accumulated by Palestinians, Israel Army Radio reported.
Israel is interested in preventing a situation in which Palestinians issue an independent currency that would compete with Israel's currency Shekel, said the report.
The process, executed for the first time two weeks ago, involves two stages. First, 3 million New Israel Shekels (NIS) (about 840 thousand U.S. dollars), will be transferred to the Bank of Israel from various bank branches in Gaza.
In the second stage, only after bills are checked for forgery, banks in Gaza will receive new bills equivalent to that amount.
The president of Gaza's Industrialist Union, Eli Chayat described the process as a crucial one, which will make life easier for Gazans and improve trade.
"Since the blockade in Gaza, they haven't exchanged any money," Chayat said. "This is not a one-time problem. Every month we deal with the same problem and beg the Israeli side. Either invest money or exchange it," he urged.
Meanwhile, sources in Jerusalem emphasized that the process does not involve the flow of new funds to the Hamas government, adding that the process is solely a technical exchange intended to maintain the quality of Israel's currency.
In the two years since the blockade, tens of thousands of torn and discarded bills have accumulated.
Source: Xinhua
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