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WikiLeaks: Israeli Officials at Gaza Crossing Corrupt


A line of Israeli trucks waits on the Israeli side of the Karni cargo crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, 19 Mar 2007 (file photo)
A line of Israeli trucks waits on the Israeli side of the Karni cargo crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, 19 Mar 2007 (file photo)

A U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks says Israeli officials charged extremely high fees to allow goods to enter into Gaza.

The diplomatic cable from 2006 says American companies complained they had to pay fees up to 75 times higher than normal.

The diplomatic cable was published Thursday in Norway's Aftenposten newspaper.

The alleged corruption took place at the Karni crossing, a major entry point into Gaza.

The document says U.S. companies who made the charges included Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, Phillip Morris, Hewlett Packard and Motorola.

The cable says a Coca-Cola distributor said he was asked to pay as much as $3,300 per truckload passing through the Karni crossing.

The document was based on information provided by the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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