GAZA, February 14, 2009 (WAFA)- A truckload of cut flowers made it out of Gaza, Thursday, and into Israel en route to Europe for sale, the first exports from the Strip in over a year, the United Nations said.

According to the office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian Territory, it is not yet clear whether any further exports will be allowed in the coming days.

Some three weeks ago the Israeli military ended its devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip. Israel has closed or restricted all border crossings with Gaza.

Since that time, UN officials and others have called for the lifting of such restrictions, saying that they made the Gaza Strip economically unsustainable and caused severed humanitarian hardships.

On Thursday, however, the Humanitarian Coordinator’s office reports that a number of crossings between Israel and the territory were open.

At the Al-Mintar crossing, 34 trucks, including 23 carrying wheat flour, made it into the Strip, and 440,000 litres of industrial fuel for Gaza’s Power Plant went through the Nahal Oz pipeline.

In a related development, the UN Board of Inquiry into incidents involving death and damage at UN premises in Gaza during Israel’s offensive began its work on Thursday. Led by Ian Martin of the United Kingdom, the four-member body, which includes legal advisers and a military expert, will visit the region and report on its findings to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.