Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided on Monday evening to slightly ease the siege on Gaza and to allow medical supplies and a minimal amount of diesel fuel for the power plant in Gaza, local media reported.

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak is seen in Herzliya near Tel Aviv January 21, 2008. Israel agreed on Monday evening to slightly ease the siege on Gaza and to allow medical supplies and a minimal amount of diesel fuel for the power plant in Gaza.

Barak made the decision following a security assessment made on Monday evening, the English daily Jerusalem Post reported on its website.

Barak's decision to ease blockade on the Hamas-run Strip came after an urgent intervention by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who had made two separate phone calls with both Barak and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Barak assured Mubarak that Israel had no interest in the creation of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza but at the same time would not allow the Palestinians to fire rockets into southern Israeli towns, according to the daily.

Palestinians light candles during a protest against severe fuel cuts, which led to power cuts, in Gaza January 21, 2008.

While Olmert told Mubarak that Israel will not allow a humanitarian crisis to erupt in the Gaza Strip, local media reported.

"We will not allow a humanitarian crisis in the Strip," Olmert assured the Egyptian president.

Israel on Thursday decided to tighten a siege that has been imposed on Gaza since mid-June last year, when Hamas took control of the coastal strip. All crossings leading to Gaza have been closed down.

Since Thursday, Israel has been barring fuels and basic food products from reaching the Gaza Strip, in retaliation to ongoing makeshift rocket attacks carried out by Palestinian militants from Gaza against Israel.

In addition, at least 37 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza on Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2008)