UN Official: Israel Slow to Relax Gaza Blockade A U.N. official responsible for Palestinian refugees says Israel has been too slow to relax its blockade of Gaza, which has obliterated the isolated economy while failing to achieve its security goals. U.N. official Filippo Grandi told The Associated Press in Australia that he is unhappy that exports of manufactured goods from Gaza to Israel and the West Bank continue to be banned almost five years after the blockade began. Grandi said Tuesday: "The economy of Gaza has been completely obliterated." Israel and Egypt closed their crossings with Gaza to all but humanitarian aid after the Islamic militant group Hamas violently seized power in the coastal strip in June 2007, exacerbating the poverty among the 1.4 million residents.