Dutch PM cancels visit to Gaza border

Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, canceled a scheduled visit to south east Gaza on Sunday to inaugurate a new container scanner donated by the Netherlands to the border crossing between Gaza Strip and Israel, due to Israels refusal to view the high-tech machine as grounds for allowing exports from Gaza to the West Bank to resume. Haaretz daily said "The dispute over this issue, which erupted about a week ago, is weighing on Ruttes impending visit to Israel, which was supposed to have taken place in a positive atmosphere. Rutte is slated to arrive Sunday, and is expected to ask Israel to reconsider its position when he meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday night. Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who will accompany Rutte, is similarly expected to raise the issue of exports from Gaza at his meeting with Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon." The Dutch Foreign Ministry said that the main purpose of the new scanner was to enable the resumption of exports from Gaza to the West Bank, as well as to Europe and the rest of the world, the daily reported