Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, said the territory needs cement — banned by Israel and essential for reconstruction after a December 2008-January 2009 war — not soft drinks.

An Israeli government official said the decision, announced hours before US President Barack Obama was to host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington, was unrelated to Israel's May 31 takeover of the convoy that challenged its Gaza blockade.

The talks between Obama and Abbas are expected to focus on ways to ease the embargo, which has drawn mounting international criticism since Israeli commandos, who met violent resistance on a Turkish-flagged ship, killed nine pro-Palestinian activists.

The Palestinian officials, based in the West Bank, said that as of next week, Israel will allow a wider variety of food, such as potato crisps, biscuits, canned fruit and packaged humous, as well as soft drinks and juice, into the Gaza Strip.

"They will send the first course. We are waiting for the main course," Palestinian Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said in Ramallah. "We are waiting for this unjust siege to end."

Israel says its blockade of Gaza is necessary to choke off weapons supplies to Hamas which runs the enclave and are opposed to Abbas' peace efforts with the Zionist state.

The United Nations says the Israeli blockade has caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, an allegation Israel denies.

Hamas played down the impact of the new Israeli product list.

"We have three factories that make carbonated drinks. They say they want to allow in potato chips, but we have factories that produce more than enough to meet Gaza's needs," said Ziyad Al-Zaza, economic and trade minister in the Hamas government.

"We are looking for a true, real lifting of the blockade ... the import of raw materials for industry and construction materials for the reconstruction of Gaza," he said.

Israel's ban on cement imports into the territory has limited efforts to rebuild homes and infrastructure destroyed or damaged in a three-week war it launched in December 2008 with the stated aim of curbing cross-border rocket fire.

Commenting on the blockade, an Israeli security source said Israel aimed to remove all restrictions on imported food items for Gaza within a few weeks and noted that jam and several other products were approved recently.

"This has nothing to do with the flotilla," the source said.

Israel's ban on cement imports into the territory, critics say, has limited efforts to rebuild homes and infrastructure destroyed or damaged in a three-week war it launched in December 2008 with the stated aim of curbing cross-border rocket fire.

Israeli authorities said that last week, Israel transferred 12,413 tons of humanitarian aid through Gaza border crossings.

The shipments included 994,000 liters of fuel for Gaza's power station, 748 tons of cooking gas and eight truckloads of medicine and medical equipment, according to an Israeli list.