Israel Sends Dozens of Drones to Gaza, Lapid Cancels his Vacation

Friday, 5 August, 2022

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid canceled his vacation due to the security situation in the south of the country, according to the Hebrew Channel 14.

Lapid's office said in a statement that the prime minister canceled his leave and will assess the situation at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.

Israel sent dozens of drones into Gaza Strip amid the state of alert among its forces in the vicinity of the Palestinian enclave.

Tel Aviv is expecting a possible response after its brutal arrest and assault of the leader of the Islamic Jihad movement in Jenin, Bassam al-Saadi.

Hebrew media said that the Israeli Air Force attacked the Gaza Strip's borders to "target armed cells" that might launch anti-tank missiles or rockets or carry out sniping operations toward Israeli targets.

Meanwhile, the Chief of the General Staff, Aviv Kohavi, visited the Gaza Division and held an operational-security situational assessment with the Commanding Officer, Nimrod Aloni.

Kohavi ordered the Israeli forces to increase readiness for escalation and expand defensive and intelligence efforts.

Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (Makan) announced that the area near the Gaza Strip witnessed a state of alert. Roads were shut and train stations were closed.

Israel closed Kerem Shalom commercial crossing and the Beit Hanoun crossing.

Based on a new assessment of the security situation, the Israeli army sent a letter to Gaza residents announcing the extension of the state of alert for another day.

According to Israel's Channel 14, the army will not tolerate maintaining the state of alert in the Gaza Strip for a long time and may replace this with economic sanctions, such as banning fishing in the Gaza sea and keeping the crossings closed, in an attempt to put financial pressure.

The Israeli army confirmed it has a strong intelligence warning that Islamic Jihad plans to operate on the border between Israel and the Strip soon.

The Ynet website said these attacks might include anti-tank missiles, snipers, or missiles.

Islamic Jihad official Khaled al-Batsh said that the movement responded to the Egyptian efforts, given that attacks and arrests stopped in the West Bank.

Israel refused and arrested 20 Palestinians on Thursday.

Later, a Hamas delegation left for Egypt to contain the situation. The movement does not want an escalation from Gaza, but it will not prevent the Islamic Jihad if an agreement is not reached, according to Israeli estimates.

The Israeli Minister of Tourism, Yoel Razvozov, said that the relevant authorities are working at the military and political levels to end the current tension.

Razvozov stressed that the decision to restrict movement in the region was taken after carefully studying the situation and in consultation with intelligence agencies.

He made it clear that Israel wants to calm the situation and will not allow the Islamic Jihad to escalate the situation or impose its conditions, warning that Tel Aviv will continue to respond to any breach from the Strip.

The Israeli minister tried to calm the Jewish settlers in the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip, who expressed anger at the continued Israeli restrictions. The settlers demanded compensation from the Israeli government, and some had to leave their homes.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3799146/israel-sends-dozens-drones-gaza-lapid-cancels-his-vacation.

Israeli PM evacuated from rally after rocket fired from Gaza

December 26, 2019

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into its southern territory Wednesday, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be hustled from a stage during an election rally in the city of Ashkelon.

The Israeli military said its air defense system, known as Iron Dome, intercepted the rocket. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz posted a video on its website showing Netanyahu being taken to a shelter as he was campaigning hours before the primaries of his Likud party. The video showed Netanyahu and his wife slowly walking off the stage with security guards after sirens went off.

Early Thursday, Israeli fighter jets and helicopters carried out multiple strikes at three military bases for Hamas, the Islamic movement that rules Gaza, according to witnesses in Gaza. No casualties were reported as the sites have been empty.

There was no immediate comment from Israel's military. Netanyahu says he knows how to protect Israel, but opponents accuse him of being soft on handling threats from Gaza. Gideon Saar, Netanyahu’s challenger in Thursday elections, called in a Twitter statement for a “broad national consensus for dismantling the military infrastructure" of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

A similar incident happened in September when Netanyahu was in the nearby city of Ashdod. He was campaigning then for the second general Israeli election of the year. That was believed to have triggered Israel's targeted killing of a senior commander in the Islamic Jihad in November. Israel and Gaza militants had their worst round of fighting in months as a result.

No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack. Such sporadic launches of rockets and ensuing Israeli airstrikes have happened frequently despite an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that ended two days of fighting in November.

Hamas seeks “understandings” with Israel to alleviate Gaza’s economic and humanitarian crises. The militant group stayed on the sidelines during the November flare-up.

Rival Palestinians Strike Gaza Unity Deal After Cairo Talks

By Saud Abu Ramadan and Fadwa Hodali
October 12, 2017

Rival Palestinian groups agreed on Thursday to end their decade-old rift, signing an Egyptian-brokered deal that will allow a unity government to resume control of the Gaza Strip and deploy forces to the border with Egypt within weeks.

Hamas, an embattled Islamist movement which had controlled Gaza since 2007, last week handed over most government functions to the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, in a first step toward ending divisions that have complicated the Palestinian bid for statehood.

Under the accord struck in Cairo, the consensus government will formally take full administrative control of Gaza by Dec. 1, according to a statement issued after the talks. The two sides have been invited to return to the Egyptian capital for more negotiations on Nov. 21. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ordered all state agencies to “restore the unity of the Palestinian people and institutions.”

In a joint news conference, chief Fatah negotiator Azzam al-Ahmad said the deal crucially would see the Palestinian Authority’s presidential guards deploy along the border between Gaza and Egypt by Nov. 1. If that leads to greater security, Egypt might be willing to permanently reopen the Rafah border crossing, one of the isolated coastal enclave’s few outlets to the world.

After initially shunning Hamas, the Egyptian government of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi sought its help in controlling the movement of militants and weapons through cross-border tunnels between Gaza and Egypt’s northern Sinai, where an Islamic State affiliate is fighting the Egyptian government -- a conflict that has battered the Red Sea tourist industry.

Armed Wing

“The consensus government has to take full control in the Gaza Strip and carry out all its duties and functions in all aspects of life, running the crossing points either with Israel or with Egypt,” Fatah’s Al-Ahmad said.

There was no indication from either side, however, that any understanding had been reached on the fate of Hamas’ armed wing, a sticking point which could yet scupper reconciliation efforts. Hamas leaders have said they would not disarm as long as Israel occupies Palestinian land. Abbas has said he wants weapons to be under unified control.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week warned against any “bogus” unity bid that would threaten his country if Hamas is allowed to keep its guns. On Thursday, he said any Palestinian government must meet the conditions of the international Quartet behind peace efforts, including recognizing Israel and respecting past agreements. Israel will watch as the situation develops and will react accordingly, he said.

The willingness of Hamas to work with Fatah, which governs the Authority’s West Bank territories, comes amid desperation in Gaza, whose economy has been strangled for years by an Israeli and Egyptian blockade, the destruction of its underground smuggling tunnels and wars with Israel. The destitution deepened earlier this year when Abbas engineered a power shortage to put further pressure on Hamas, which is shunned as a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and European Union.

Israeli Assertions

Gaza, which sits on the Mediterranean coast and is fenced in by heavily-patrolled barriers on three sides bordering Israel and Egypt, has been a frequent battleground over the past decade, during which Hamas has fought three wars with Israel. Abbas has tried numerous times without success to repair the rift, in part to counter Israeli assertions that peace negotiations are pointless because he can’t ensure that any treaty will also hold in Gaza.

Previous efforts to reconcile have failed due to disagreements over the fate of the weapons held by Hamas, as well as control of borders and other key institutions. This time, Hamas has gone further in offering concessions to heal the rift. As well as offering help to secure the border with Egypt, it has distanced itself from the Muslim Brotherhood, which former military chief El-Sisi removed from power in mid-2013.

Internationally isolated and with the economy in shreds, Hamas said last month it was ready to dismantle the administrative committee it set up earlier this year to run Gaza. Abbas viewed the panel as a shadow government and evidence of bad faith in the talks.

“We, in Hamas, are determined, serious and faithful this time,” Hamas negotiator Saleh Al-Arouri said at the news conference in Cairo. “This time is different to the previous times.”

— With assistance by Ahmed Feteha, Tarek El-Tablawy, Lin Noueihed, and Michael Arnold

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-12/palestinians-strike-gaza-unity-deal-after-marathon-cairo-talks.

Palestinian Government Sets Economic Reform Plan for Gaza Strip

October 5, 2017

Ramallah– Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah presented on Wednesday highlights of his government’s economic reform plan in the Gaza Strip.

“We have plans ready for action,” said Hamdallah, who remained in Gaza with a group of ministers following a Cabinet session on Tuesday.

“We hope we can invest in industrial areas and gas fields,” he stated, addressing a group of Gazan businessmen.

The prime minister was referring to his intention to reproduce the experience of the West Bank in the establishment of large industrial zones, which is still in its early stages, and to start extracting gas from the natural gas field off the coast of Gaza, which was discovered in 1998.

The Authority highlighted an initial agreement with foreign companies for gas extraction, hoping that the Gaza gas field would be one of the foundations of the Palestinian economy.

In addition, Hamdallah said that his government was looking to improve the business and investment environment in Gaza, to work on the land settlement and water purification projects and to complete infrastructure and sanitation plans.

The economic file will be one of the most important issues that the Palestinian government will have to deal with, in the wake of the high rates of unemployment and poverty, and the significant and dangerous economic decline witnessed over the last period.

According to a recent study, the Gaza Strip incurred losses worth $15 billion over the past ten years.

Hamdallah stressed that his government would work to improve the economic situation, despite the decline of foreign aid by more than 70 percent, the delivery of only 35.5 percent of aid, and with many countries not fulfilling their commitments to reconstruction in Gaza.

The prime minister, however, linked the ability of his government to implement its economic plans with the agreement between Fatah and Hamas on the reconciliation files in Cairo.

“We hope that reconciliation will be a lever for our efforts in this context, which will contribute to improving our economy and the living conditions of citizens,” he said.

Two delegations from Fatah and Hamas are expected to arrive next Monday in Cairo, upon an invitation by Egyptian Intelligence Chief Khalid Fawzi.

On Tuesday, Hamdallah presided over a Cabinet meeting in the Gaza Strip, in a move towards reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas parties.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://english.aawsat.com/kifah-ziboun/news-middle-east/palestinian-government-sets-economic-reform-plan-gaza-strip.

Palestinian cabinet convenes in Gaza for first time since 2014 amid Fatah, Hamas unity talks

GAZA CITY, Palestine
October 3, 2017

The Palestinian cabinet met in Gaza on Tuesday for the first time since 2014 in a further step towards the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority retaking control of the territory.

The meeting of the Fatah-led government, which is based in the occupied West Bank, comes as part of moves to end a decade-long split between the PA and the Hamas movement, which runs Gaza.

In an opening speech, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah renewed his pledge to end the rift.

"We are here to turn the page on division, restore the national project to its correct direction and establish the (Palestinian) state," he said.

It was the first meeting of the cabinet in Gaza since November 2014, and comes a day after Hamdallah entered the territory for the first time since a unity government collapsed in June 2015.

On Monday, he met with senior Hamas figures, including leader Ismail Haniya.

After Tuesday's cabinet meeting, government spokesman Yusuf Al Mahmud said ministers discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza. No Hamas officials took part.

Mahmud warned that a full reconciliation deal would take time.

"The government does not have a magic wand," he told reporters.

More than two million people live in impoverished Gaza, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt for years.

The sides will hold further talks next week in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Punitive measures imposed by the PA against Hamas, including cutting electricity payments for Gaza, would remain in place pending the result of those talks, Mahmoud added.

Hamas called for the measures to be ended immediately as a show of good will.

"Our people look forward to practical steps to ease their suffering," a statement said.

A main sticking point between the parties is whether tens of thousands of Hamas employees will be added to the PA's already bloated government payroll. It is also unclear if Hamas will allow its militants to be replaced by PA security forces, especially at Gaza's border crossings to Egypt.

Hamas has controlled Gaza since seizing it from the PA in a near civil war in 2007 after Hamas swept 2006 legislative polls that were ultimately rejected by Fatah, Israel and the international community. So far, multiple previous reconciliation attempts have failed.

Last month, Hamas announced they were willing to cede civilian control to the PA, following Egyptian pressure.

The United States and the European Union blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization, complicating the formation of any potential unity government.

The head of Egyptian intelligence Khaled Fawzi is to visit Gaza later on Tuesday and meet with Hamas and PA officials, including Haniya.

'Carefully optimistic'

Tuesday's cabinet session took place at the official Gaza residence of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the cabinet office, hung with portraits of Abbas and historic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Huge posters of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who brokered the reconciliation effort, were also featured outside Abbas' residence.

Abbas himself remained in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Hamas security were on the roof of the building, while Palestinian Authority agents were deployed inside, an AFP correspondent reported.

"Today we are faced with a historic revival in which we are grappling with our wounds and elevating our unity," Hamdallah said, reaffirming that there would be no Palestinian state without Gaza.

U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said on Monday that he was "carefully optimistic" about the reconciliation talks.

"If the region stays engaged, if Egypt's role continues and if the political parties themselves continue to show the willingness they are currently showing to work with us on this process, then it can succeed," he told AFP.

In an interview on Monday night Abbas said that while the two sides "might have wronged each other and cursed each other, today we enter a new phase."

A key issue is Hamas's powerful military wing that has fought three wars with Israel since 2008. Hamas officials reject the possibility of dissolving it.

Abbas told Egypt's CBC that there will be "one state, one system, one law and one weapon" -- in an apparent reference to Hamas's military wing.

He also warned Hamas could not "copy or clone Hezbollah's experience in Lebanon," referring to a situation where an independent armed group exerts major influence on national politics.

The United States cautiously welcomed Hamdallah's visit, but White House special envoy Jason Greenblatt warned any Palestinian government "must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties and peaceful negotiations."

The Palestinian Authority has signed peace deals with Israel, but Hamas was not party to them and does not recognize Israel's right to exist.

Source: Daily Sabah.
Link: https://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/2017/10/03/palestinian-cabinet-convenes-in-gaza-for-first-time-since-2014-amid-fatah-hamas-unity-talks.

Palestinian leader launches reconciliation push in Gaza

October 02, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Palestinian prime minister traveled Monday to the Gaza Strip to launch an ambitious reconciliation effort with the rival Hamas militant group, receiving a hero's welcome from thousands of people as the sides moved to end a bitter 10-year rift.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, representing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, was joined by dozens of top officials, aides and security men on the trip from the West Bank through Israel and into Gaza to meet with the Hamas officials. It is by far the most ambitious attempt at reconciliation since Hamas seized power of the coastal strip in 2007.

The sides exchanged smiles, handshakes and pleasantries — a reflection of the changed climate that has ripened conditions for reconciliation after other failed attempts. But difficult negotiations lie ahead, and key sticking points, particularly who will control Hamas' vast weapons arsenal, could easily derail the effort.

On Monday, at least, the two sides put aside their differences. Well-wishers surrounded Hamdallah's car as it entered Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Erez border crossing, and dozens of Palestinian youths gathered alongside a barbed-wire fence to glimpse the welcoming ceremony. Some waved Palestinian or yellow Fatah flags, and many chanted Hamdallah's name.

"The only way to statehood is through unity," Hamdallah told the crowd of about 2,000. "We are coming to Gaza again to deepen the reconciliation and end the split." Conditions in Gaza have deteriorated greatly in a decade of Hamas rule, and the feeling of hope by desperate residents was palpable Monday.

Thousands lined the streets to watch Hamdallah's 30-vehicle convoy. The crowd forced the delegation to delay its first meeting at the home of the top Fatah official in Gaza and instead take a break at a beachside hotel.

Dozens of vehicles later returned to the Shejayeh neighborhood for the lunch. Hamas' top leaders, Ismail Haniyeh and Yehiyeh Sinwar, said next to Hamdallah and West Bank security chief Majed Faraj. "This is a day of joy," said Shaima Ahmed, 28, a women's rights activist who covered her shoulders with a Palestinian kaffiyeh. "Yes it's difficult and not easy to go forward, but we only have to be optimistic this time."

Hamas ousted the Fatah-led forces of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in the summer of 2007, leaving the Palestinians torn between rival governments on opposite sides of Israel. Hamas has ruled Gaza, while Abbas' party has controlled autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas seeks both territories, along with east Jerusalem, for a Palestinian state, and the division is a major obstacle to any possible peace deal. Israel captured all three areas in the 1967 Mideast war, although it withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

While previous reconciliation attempts have failed, years of international isolation and steadily worsening conditions in Gaza have pushed Hamas toward compromise. In a significant concession, Hamas has offered to turn over all governing responsibilities to Hamdallah. His ministers are expected to begin taking over government ministries Tuesday, with negotiations in Cairo on more difficult issues in the coming weeks.

Hamdallah said the reconstruction of Gaza, which is still recovering from a 2014 war with Israel, would be a priority. "We realize that the road is still long and hard. We will be faced with obstacles and challenges, but our people are able to rise again from among destruction and suffering," he said.

Several factors appear to be working in favor of reconciliation. Under Hamas' watch, Gaza has fallen deeper into poverty, battered by a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade and three devastating wars with Israel. Unemployment is estimated at over 40 percent, Gaza's 2 million residents are virtually barred from traveling abroad, and residents have electricity for only a few hours a day.

Sinwar, Hamas' newly elected leader, has expressed willingness to yield most power to Abbas, preferring to return to his group's roots as an armed "resistance" movement battling Israel. The group's leadership is based entirely in Gaza, meaning they no longer have to consult with exiled leaders spread across the Arab world to make difficult decisions.

And perhaps most critically, Hamas has improved relations with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The former general took office after the military ousted then-President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, had close ties with Hamas, and el-Sissi has previously accused Hamas of cooperating with Islamic extremists in Egypt's neighboring Sinai peninsula. But the sides have grown closer in recent months, with Hamas now providing security cooperation with Egypt and el-Sissi promising to ease the blockade.

Reflecting these improved ties, Egyptian envoys attended Monday's ceremony, and posters of the Egyptian flag and el-Sissi were hoisted at major intersections. Egypt also maintains good ties with Israel and could potentially play an important role in selling a reconciliation deal to Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group.

Abbas also has much to gain. The 82-year-old Palestinian leader has said the rift with Gaza is his greatest regret. Regaining control of Gaza would help him burnish his legacy, especially after years of failure in peace efforts with Israel.

Still, many obstacles lie ahead. While Hamas is eager to give up its governing responsibilities, officials say the group will not give up its arsenal of thousands of rockets and mortars aimed at Israel.

Officials close to Abbas say he will not agree to allow Hamas to become like Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that dominates its country's politics. The sides will have to find a formula that not only is acceptable to them but which Israel would be willing to tolerate.

Israel has demanded that Hamas renounce violence and recognize its right to exist as part of any reconciliation deal. It also remains unclear what will happen to Hamas' 40,000 civil servants, who were hired after Abbas forced his employees in Gaza to resign after the Hamas takeover. In an area with few jobs, both sides will likely want their loyalists to receive salaries.

Fatah spokesman Osama Qawasmi said the sides are up to the task. "We believe these issues are difficult, but with our will and patience, we can resolve them," he said. In signs of good spirits, a family named their child born in Gaza Monday after the visiting Palestinian prime minister, and the official TV station of Abbas' government broadcast its main news bulletin from Gaza for the first time in a decade since the Hamas takeover.

Donald Trump's Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt said in a statement the U.S. "welcomes efforts to create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority to fully assume its responsibilities in Gaza." It added that "any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel," and should also accept previous agreements between the parties.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian PM Arrives in Gaza in First Step in Reconciliation

October 2, 2017

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday in what is seen as a major step towards ending the decade-long rift between Fatah and Hamas, which seized control of the coastal strip in 2007.

Hamdallah drove through the Israeli Erez crossing, heading a large delegation of Fatah officials from the West Bank trying to end the dispute.

Hamas announced last week that it was handing over administrative control of the Gaza Strip to a unity government headed by Hamdallah, but the movement’s armed wing remains the dominant power in the enclave of two million people.

Hamas’s reversal was the most significant step toward elusive Palestinian unity since the government was formed in 2014. It failed to function in Gaza because of disputes between Hamas and Fatah over its responsibilities.

Analysts said narrowing internal divisions could help Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas counter Israel’s argument that it has no negotiating partner for peace.

A Hamas police honor guard and hundreds of Palestinians, many of them waving Palestinian flags, welcomed Hamdallah outside the Hamas-controlled checkpoint, down the road from the Erez crossing.

“It is a day of Eid, a national holiday,” said Abdel-Majid Ali, 46. “We hope this time reconciliation is for real.”

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel and the West, made its dramatic reversal toward unity last month, disbanding its Gaza shadow government, after Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates imposed an economic boycott on its main donor, Qatar, over support of terrorism.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://english.aawsat.com/asharq-al-awsat-english/news-middle-east/palestinian-pm-arrives-gaza-first-step-reconciliation.

Egypt closes Gaza border after clashes in Sinai

July 05, 2013

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian official says the country's border crossing with Gaza Strip in northern Sinai has been closed indefinitely, citing security concerns.

The decision comes hours after suspected Islamic militants attacked four sites in northern Sinai, targeting two military checkpoints, a police station and el-Arish airport, where military aircraft are stationed.

The military and security forces responded to the attacks. One soldier was killed and three were wounded. Gen. Sami el-Metwali said Rafah passage was shut down on Friday. He didn't say when it would be reopened. Some 200 Palestinians were turned back to the Gaza Strip after the order.

The clashes came two days after the military's ouster of President Islamist Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Some Islamist elements have pledged to fight the military's move.

Teachers protest at UNRWA's Gaza City headquarters

Wednesday 05/10/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Thousands of teachers on Wednesday protested at UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City over the dismissal of a union official, a Ma'an correspondent reported.

The Local Staff Union called for the general strike on Wednesday, the second such action in a week, to protest at UNRWA's suspension of the head of the union, Suhail al-Hindi.

Hamas sources said the UN agency had accused Hindi of meeting with Hamas political officials.

Buses took some 7,000 teachers employed at UNRWA-run schools to UN headquarters in Gaza city where they held a sit-in, calling for an end to "UNRWA political punishment of employees."

"Death rather than humiliation" read a banner held by striking teachers. "Deception, lying and hypocrisy have become the core values of UNRWA," read another.

The strike affected all of UNRWA's 243 schools in Gaza.

Hindi told the teachers he would stand against "oppression and injustice" but added that Palestinians saw UNRWA as a symbol of the cause of refugees and that its role should be preserved "until the Israeli occupation is removed."

UNRWA was founded in 1949 to serve refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and Arab countries after hundreds of thousands were displaced from Palestine when Israel was created. The agency's most recent mandate extends to June 30, 2014.

Chris Gunness, UNRWA's chief spokesman in Jerusalem, said disputes should be resolved internally and not through actions that undermine agency operations and services to refugees in Gaza.

"UNRWA is extremely concerned about the impact of further strikes on the education of 220,000 children in our schools, children whose right to education is being denied," he said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Hamas accused UNRWA of trying to create a "parallel authority".

"The Palestinian people cannot accept the punishment of an employee of the head of the employees union just because of his participation in a regular community activity," said Taher al-Nunu, spokesman of the Hamas-led government in Gaza.

Hamas lawmakers often criticize UNRWA's education policies and some accuse it of trying to teach material that encourages normalization with Israel or educates pupils about the Holocaust.

Islamist radicals opposed to mixed-gender activities are believed to be behind arson attacks on UNRWA-run summer camps.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=426281.

Gazans rally with exiled Hamas chief

December 08, 2012

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas vowed to continue fighting Israel Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Gazans turned out to celebrate the organization's 25th anniversary.

Khaled Mashaal's visit to the Palestinian territory — a first in his lifetime of exile — underscores Hamas' rising clout and regional acceptance since its eight-day conflict with Israel last month. At the main stage in Gaza City, a roaring crowd greeted Mashaal and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who emerged from a door built into a large model of a rocket fired at Israeli cities during the recent fighting.

Hamas' green dominated the gathering, where some children wore military uniforms and others carried guns. Masked gunmen holding automatic rifles flanked the podium where Mashaal gave a fiery speech. "We are not giving up any inch of Palestine. It will remain Islamic and Arab for us and nobody else. Jihad and armed resistance is the only way," Mashaal said, referring to holy war. "We cannot recognize Israel's legitimacy."

Mashaal said he would continue to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails — referring to a swap last year where an abducted Israeli soldier was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The 56-year-old Mashaal, who left the West Bank as a child and now leads Hamas from the Gulf state of Qatar, entered Gaza on Friday via Egypt. Hamas has received a boost from the political ascension of its parent movement, the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, in the wake of last year's Arab Spring revolts — especially in Egypt.

It has also upped its profile as master of the Gaza Strip, leading it through the bloodiest round of fighting with Israel in four years and coming to a cease-fire arrangement in talks brokered by Egypt.

Hamas claimed victory in the conflict after holding its own despite airstrikes and maintaining an almost constant barrage of rocket attacks on Israeli cities. The Nov. 21 cease-fire stipulated Israel would stop targeting militants. That, along with unprecedented support from Egypt, allowed Mashaal to make the visit without fear of Israeli assassination, which he has narrowly escaped in the past.

Israel, the U.S. and European Union list Hamas as a terrorist organization. Israel is now holding indirect talks with the group as a result of the cease-fire arrangement.

Gaza: Egypt opening border ahead of Muslim holiday

August 14, 2012

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Egypt on Tuesday opened its border with Hamas-ruled Gaza for a three-day period ahead of a major Muslim holiday this weekend, but imposed tight restrictions on who can travel and did not say whether it would resume normal border operations.

The government in Cairo closed the border Aug. 5, shutting down the Rafah passenger terminal and — according to Egyptian security officials — sealing more than 100 cross-border smuggling tunnels. The move came after Islamic militants in Egypt's Sinai desert near Gaza killed 16 Egyptian troops at a border post near Israel.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's government has suggested the assailants had help from Gaza, a claim Hamas denies. The Egyptian restrictions raised tensions between Morsi and Hamas, both members of the region-wide Muslim Brotherhood and presumably sympathetic to each other.

The Hamas interior minister, Fathi Hamad, has demanded that Morsi reopen the Rafah crossing quickly and suggested the new Egyptian president was acting like his predecessor, the staunchly anti-Hamas Hosni Mubarak who had backed Israel's tight blockade of Gaza's borders.

"We suffered from the unjust regime of Mubarak that participated in the Israeli blockade of Gaza," Hamad wrote in comments posted on his ministry's website. "Why should we suffer now, in the era of Egypt's revolution and democracy?"

Addressing Egyptian leaders, Hamad called for a different policy. "Palestine should be considered a priority," he wrote. "If you are not doing that, you have to correct your course." Last week, Egypt began allowing stranded travelers to return to Gaza, and some 4,500 have so far made the trip, according to Gaza border officials. On Tuesday, Egypt for the first time allowed some border traffic from Gaza, but only for a select few — Gaza students registered at foreign universities, those with residency abroad and medical patients.

Gaza border official Maher Abu Sabha said two-way traffic will continue for three days, in the run-up to the weekend's Eid el-Fitr holiday, which caps the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The limited opening is meant to relieve some of the pressure on Gaza, but also suggests that there is no imminent decision by Egypt to resume normal border traffic.

Amani Salman, 34, and her four sons were waiting on the Gaza side of the border, hoping to cross into Egypt en route to their home in Qatar. Salman said she had been scheduled to travel on the day after the attack and was forced to cancel her plane tickets, at a cost of $1,800.

She said she had hesitated for years to visit her family in Gaza because of the precarious border situation, but decided to risk the trip after the change of government in Egypt. "This year, I thought it will be better, but it was the same," she said. "We love Egypt and we were very happy for their new president. We are not asking for much, just to be treated as humans ... It's a mistake to punish Gaza."

Associated Press writer Ashraf Sweilam in El Arish, Egypt contributed reporting.

Hamas slams UNRWA for interfering in union activities

11/09/2011

GAZA, (PIC)– The Hamas Movement’s department of refugee affairs criticized the UNRWA administration for intervening in the work of labor unions in Gaza and suspending head of the UNRWA’s Arab staff union Suhail Hindi for three weeks.

“The [suspension] decision falls within its attempts to muzzle its employees, break their will and deter them from engaging in any union activities, the refugee department said in a press release on Saturday.

“The UNRWA has no right to control the movement of its employees who are affiliated with unions; this is considered intervention in their freedoms which are internationally protected, it added.

“The UNRWA’s attempts to restrain its employees and their representatives from claiming their rights and acting for their just cause will be doomed to failure, and there is no need for the UNRWA to repeat mistakes which cause it to lose on the moral level.”

For its part, the committee for the rights of refugees denounced the UNRWA for converting itself from a relief foundation into a political and security agency.

The committee accused the administration of the UNRWA of carrying out conspiratorial schemes against the Palestinian refugees and changing its relief role into a dubious political and intelligence role through recruiting a very large number of foreign employees for jobs of no use to the Palestinian people.

It emphasized in a press release its rejection of transferring the UNRWA from a relief agency for refugees into a security and political institution serving foreign agendas aimed at liquidating the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Source: Occupied Palestine WordPress News Blog.
Link: http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/hamas-slams-unrwa-for-interfering-in-union-activities/.

Tunisian aid convoy to enter Gaza soon

11/09/2011

TUNISIA, (PIC)– The Tunisian aid convoy Karama (dignity) left Carthage airport for Cairo on Saturday afternoon to deliver symbolic humanitarian assistance to the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Tunisian official media said the convoy would enter Gaza through Rafah border crossing carrying medical supplies unavailable in the Strip.

Massive crowds waving Palestinian and Tunisian flags bid farewell to five Tunisian young people and two jurists, members of this aid convoy, on Saturday.

The crowds chanted slogans against the Israeli occupation and its crimes against the Palestinian people especially the blockade on Gaza.

Source: Occupied Palestine WordPress News Blog.
Link: http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/tunisian-aid-convoy-to-enter-gaza-soon/.

Turkey to take legal battle for Gaza flotilla dead to The Hague

Sep 10, 2011

Istanbul - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan Saturday vowed to carry his country's spat with Israel over last year's killing of Turkish nationals aboard Gaza flotilla ship the Mavi Marmara to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Speaking a convention of businessmen in the central Turkish city of Kayseri broadcast live on Turkey's state news channel TRT Erdogan vowed to continue the legal struggle for justice for the nine people killed on the ship.

'We will carry this struggle to the Hague and the world will again see who is standing alongside the victims,' he said, criticizing Turkish opposition leaders for what he described as 'acting as advocates for Israel'.

Erdogan was also deeply critical of the United States position on the Mavi Marmara incident, relating how he had to point out to US President Barack Obama how the attack had left nine Turks dead from wounds inflicted by 35 bullets mostly fired from close range, one of them an American passport holder.

'I asked President Obama whether the reason he showed no interest in one of his nationals being killed was because (the victim) was (ethnically) Turkish - he didn't reply,' said Erdogan.

However, despite that rhetoric, Erdogan made no repeat mention of his remarks from an interview Thursday with Al Jazeera in which he warned that Turkey could send warships to protect future aid convoys sent to break the Israeli blockade against Gaza.

Turkey's state Anatolian News Agency quoted Erdogan as telling Al Jazeera that 'Turkish vessels are obliged to protect their own ships. We are going to send humanitarian aid to the region. And Turkish vessels carrying humanitarian aid will never be subject to any attack again.'

'Turkey does not make the same mistakes with Israel in the international waters. Turkey's state and military decency do not allow such mistakes.'

Those remarks, the first time that a Turkish official has warned of possible military intervention in the year long spat with Israel, caused international concern when aired late Thursday prompting warnings from both Israel and the US of the possible consequences of escalating tensions between the two former allies.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1662132.php/Turkey-to-take-legal-battle-for-Gaza-flotilla-dead-to-The-Hague.

TRC to modernize water pipeline network in Gaza

September 8, 2011

ANKARA, (PIC)– The Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) announced plans to overhaul the water pipeline network in the Gaza Strip, which suffers acute shortage in potable and irrigation water due to the ongoing five-year Israeli blockade.

The organization said in a statement on Wednesday that repair works would focus on eight sites that were badly damaged in the 2008 Israeli war on the Strip, adding that on completion 400000 Palestinian would benefit from it.

The TRC has been working for the past two years in Gaza in a bid to solve the water crisis and had recently finished modernizing water tanks in many areas in the Strip allowing 50000 citizens to enjoy anew clean running water.

Source: Occupied Palestine WordPress News Blog.
Link: http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/trc-to-modernize-water-pipeline-network-in-gaza/.

Saudi Arabia donates 20 tonnes of dates to Gaza

Monday 05/09/2011

EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Jaber al-Arabi said Monday that Saudi Arabia has sent 20 tonnes of dates to the Gaza Strip.

Al-Arabi told Ma'an that the dates will enter Gaza Monday evening via the Rafah crossing.

Egyptian authorities are helping to facilitate the transfer, he added.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417909.

Gaza school children plagued by siege

Mon Sep 5, 2011

Hamas Deputy Minister of Education Mohammed Abu Shkeir says Israel's siege on the Gaza Strip has caused troubles for school children in the enclave, Press TV reported.

"There are about 400,000 school children in Gaza schools, including governmental, UN-run, and private schools," he told Press TV.

"There are shortcomings in classrooms and students have to study in two shifts due to lack of schools, which is a direct result to the blockade," the Hamas official added.

More than 80 percent of public and UN schools work double shifts in the morning and evening due to lack of classrooms, according to figures released by UNICEF.

Israel's blockade, which has been imposed on the sliver since 2007, has caused poverty among families and put children at risk of school dropout and psychological distress.

Tel Aviv's restrictions on importing construction material into Gaza has forced schools to place students in cramped rooms and cut the class time by third.

Private school owner Umaima Abulkheir said families, who could afford private schools in previous years, are not able to enroll their children in these schools this year because of high cost of living and unemployment.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197469.html.

Turkey to challenge Israel's Gaza siege

Sun Sep 4, 2011

Turkey says it plans to challenge Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip at the International Court of Justice, amid rising tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the decision on Saturday, one day after the release of a United Nations report on Israel's May 31, 2010 attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy in international waters and the deaths of nine Turkish nationals on board the fleet.

The report, written by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, approved Israel's blockade of Gaza -- tightened a year after the election of Hamas in Palestine's general elections of 2006 -- as a so-called security measure.

It called the Israeli raid "excessive and unreasonable," but also blamed Turkey and the flotilla organizers for contributing to the killing of pro-Palestinian activists.

Davutoglu rejected the Palmer report saying it was in contrast with an earlier report on the incident prepared by the UN Human Rights Council in September, which found that Israel violated international law by attacking the civilian aid convoy.

He argued that the recent document was not endorsed by the United Nations and was therefore not binding.

“What is binding is the International Court of Justice,'' Davutoglu said.

“This is what we are saying: let the International Court of Justice decide,'' he added, explaining that Ankara was preparing the necessary grounds for the legal action.

The comments came a day after Turkey, irked by Israel's refusal to apologize over its deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, expelled Tel Aviv's ambassador to Ankara and froze all military ties with Israel.

Turkey, which has been actively pursuing the case of Israel's flotilla attack, also promised to support legal actions against Israel by the families of the victims of the attack.

It also vowed to take measures to ensure freedom to navigate in the eastern Mediterranean, a move that analysts suggest could mean sending navy forces to escort future aid convoys.

In his Saturday comments, Davutoglu warned Tel Aviv that its persistence in disdaining to apologize could seriously endanger Israel's interest in Arab and Muslim countries, swept by popular revolutions and a surging wave of Islamic Awakening.

"If Israel persists with its current position, the Arab spring will give rise to a strong Israel opposition as well as the debate on the authoritarian regimes,'' he said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197323.html.

Gazans hold rally in support of Turkey

Sun Sep 4, 2011

Dozens of supporters of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas have rallied in the streets of Gaza to show support of Turkey's decision to cut its diplomatic relations with Israel.

Chanting slogans in support of Ankara and against Tel Aviv, the demonstrators condemned the recent UN-leaked report on the deadly Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound relief aid convoy Freedom Flotilla in international waters in 2010.

The marchers slammed the report, which offers an air of legitimacy to Israel's prolonged blockade on the Gaza Strip, burning flags of Israel, Xinhua reported.

On Friday, Turkey expelled Israel's envoy from Ankara and suspended all its military ties with Israel after Tel Aviv refused to apologize for its deadly attack on the Gaza-bound aid convey.

Meanwhile, following the release of the UN report, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Ankara would take legal action against Israel's blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

The report, written by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, approved Israel's blockade of Gaza -- tightened a year after the election of Hamas in Palestine's general elections of 2006 -- as a so-called security measure.

It terms the Israeli raid "excessive and unreasonable," but also blamed Turkey and the flotilla organizers for contributing to the killing of pro-Palestinian activists.

The top Turkish diplomat challenged the report, saying the latest report is in contrast with an earlier report prepared by the UN Human Rights Council in September, which blamed Israel for violating international law.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza when the Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the territory.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197360.html.

Egypt envoy: No plan to demolish Gaza tunnels

Friday 02/09/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Egypt has denied plans to demolish tunnels on the border with Gaza.

Yasser Othman, ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, said Friday that no decision had been taken about the tunnels.

The plan is to restore security in the Sinai and the border area -- not to tighten the siege on Gaza, he says.

He said the security campaign in the tunnel area will only target areas which threaten Palestinian and Egyptian security.

He also said that restoring security in the northern Sinai would help Egypt improve facilities at the Rafah crossing.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417261.