Israel Reopens Gaza Border for Supplies

Israel has reopened its border crossings with the Gaza Strip to allow trucks transporting humanitarian aid into the territory.

The Israeli military Tuesday said it allowed in some 40 trucks carrying food, medical supplies and cooking gas as well as fuel for Gaza's power plant.

Also on Tuesday, Israel allowed a small boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists to sail to Gaza from Cyprus.

The international activists brought in humanitarian supplies. They also transported a Palestinian man who has been separated from his family in Gaza for several years.

This is the fourth boat of activists to reach the territory despite Israel's blockade. The Israeli navy has turned away two other boats - one from Libya and another carrying Israeli Arab lawmakers.

Israel and Egypt closed their borders with Gaza for most traffic after the Hamas militant group took control of the territory last year.

Israel had tightened its blockade of the territory and limited foreign journalists' entry since a series of cross-border rocket attacks last month.

In other news, a United Nations spokeswoman, Michele Montas, on Tuesday announced that the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will meet at the U.N. in New York on December 15.

The Quartet is made up of the European Union, Russia, the U.N. and the United States. The group has strongly backed peace talks that were launched in Annapolis, Maryland last year, even though few expect an agreement by the end of this year, as originally planned.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.