Israel began easing its economic blockade of the Gaza Strip yesterday as its truce with Hamas reached the fourth day.

Trucks carrying basic foodstuffs began entering Gaza through the Sufa crossing in the early morning as Palestinian lorry drivers waited on the other side. Israel refuses to engage in direct talks with Hamas, which denies its right to exist.

To avoid direct dealings, the truckloads of foodstuffs were placed under the blazing desert sun until Israeli workers had left the scene.

Peter Lerner, a spokesman for Israel's military co-ordinator for the Gaza Strip, said that 90 trucks carrying items such as milk, meat and fish would cross into Gaza through the day. The aid marks a slight boost from the 60 to 70 trucks that Israel was allowing to enter Gaza before the truce. Israeli authorities said the increase in aid was in keeping with the terms of the Egyptian-mediated truce, but Palestinians called the amount meagre.

A spokesman for Hamas said Palestinians in Gaza were in dire need and the increase was not enough to alleviate the distress of the blockade - which began a year ago when Hamas took control of Gaza. He said an about 100 truckloads a day passed through the Sufa and Kerem Shalom crossings until mid-April. Israel closed the crossings after repeated raids by Gaza militants.

If the truce persisted, Israel would continue easing restrictions at crossings, which in recent months have been closed to all but humanitarian aid and limited fuel supplies, an Israeli government spokesman said.

Before Israel opens the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, it will insist that progress is made on the release of Gilad Schalit, the Israeli soldier seized in 2006. Right-wing members of the Government have criticised Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, for agreeing to the truce without securing Mr Schalit's safety.

Mr Olmert faces several domestic threats to his leadership, with police investigating corruption charges made against him. On Wednesday the Knesset will hear a Bill to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

Members of the Schalit family petitioned Israel's supreme court yesterday to block the truce deal, arguing that border crossings should stay closed as long as their son was held. The Schalits published a letter from their son delivered two weeks ago by representatives of Jimmy Carter, the former US President. In it, Mr Schalit says he is suffering medical difficulties and calls on the Government to meet his captors' demands.

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