Hamas chief details terms for calm with Israel
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Thursday that two
industrial zones, a new power line and a hospital would be built for
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as part of truce understandings between his
Islamist group and Israel.
The deal, brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations,
has not been publicly acknowledged by Israel, which deems Gaza’s ruling Hamas
movement a terrorist organization and shuns direct negotiations.
In a briefing to foreign media, Haniyeh accused Israel of
failing to comply fully with the understandings and of repeatedly reducing the
size of Gaza’s fishing zone, which he said was to be widened to 18 miles under
the deal.
Israel, which cites security concerns for its naval blockade
of Gaza and strict border controls, has temporarily narrowed or closed the zone
in recent weeks in what it said was a response to incendiary balloons launched
from the Palestinian enclave.
Haniyeh accused Israel of non-compliance with the ceasefire
and of delaying any launching of the projects stated in the deal. “The
understandings are in danger because of the non-compliance by the occupation to
implement the required obligations,” Haniyeh said.
But he said Palestinian factions in Gaza were committed to
maintaining calm by stopping the balloon launchings and night-time
demonstrations along the border that have led to clashes with Israeli forces.
“We want to afford a dignified life for our Palestinian
people and we want to spare our people repeated aggressions (by Israel),” said
Haniyeh.
He did not say when construction of the two industrial zones
and the hospital would start, but he noted that funds from Qatar would be used
to purchase a new power line from Israel and create new jobs.
Some two million Palestinians live in Gaza, whose economy
has suffered years of Israeli and Egyptian blockades as well as recent foreign
aid cuts and sanctions by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’s rival in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Qatar has in recent years funneled hundreds of millions of
dollars into relief projects in Gaza, viewing the aid as a way to stave off
privation and fighting with Israel. Unemployment in Gaza, which has a
population of two million, is at 52 percent.
Hamas seized Gaza from forces loyal to Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, and the group has fought three wars with Israel since
then.
In two days of heavy fighting in early May, projectiles from
Gaza killed four civilians in Israel, local health officials said, and Israeli
strikes killed 21 Palestinians, over half of them civilians, according to Gaza
health authorities.
A ceasefire mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations
ended that round of violence.