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An Israeli court has decided that the government must release a study conducted after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, a period when Israel tightened their blockade on the area due to growing security concerns.

The decision to extend the blockade involved limiting the number of trucks able to enter Gaza, including those providing food supplies, an issue which the report detailed. But the Israeli administration was clear that the study was merely a draft and never used to determine policy.

The tightened blockade continued for three years until 2010, at which point the Israelis began to allow more cargo at border checkpoints. During the three-year-period, millions of dollars worth of supplies were smuggled into Gaza via underground tunnels.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for the hundreds of rockets fired each year from Gaza into the Jewish state, while the EU, US, and Israel also regard the organization as a terrorist group.