Israel lets food, commercial goods back into Gaza as Egypt seeks truce

[webfact]

Israel lets food, commercial goods back into Gaza as Egypt seeks truce

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

 

A truck carrying goods arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 15, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

 

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel allowed commercial goods back into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, in a sign of easing tensions as neighbouring Egypt pursued a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian enclave's dominant armed faction.

 

But the prospect of an agreement between Israel and the Islamist group prompted concern within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government that Hamas would take advantage of any respite from fighting to build up its rocket arsenal.

 

Israel's security cabinet, a forum of senior ministers headed by Netanyahu, discussed the situation. In a statement issued by Netanyahu's office, an Israeli "diplomatic official" said Hamas would have to prove its commitment to the truce.

 

As well as wanting calm along the border, Israel has said Hamas must return the remains of two soldiers killed in the 2014 Gaza war and release two civilians whose fate is unknown, whom it says are being held by Hamas in the Strip.

 

"There will be no proper agreement with Hamas without the repatriation of our sons and citizens, and without (it) ensuring calm for an extended period," part of the statement from the prime minister's office said.

 

At Israel's Kerem Shalom commercial crossing with Gaza, consignments of fruits and vegetables, fuel and construction material moved into the territory of 2 million people.

 

Israel announced on Tuesday it would lift the commercial goods ban it imposed on July 9 in response to the launching by Palestinians of incendiary balloons across the frontier.

 

There have been fewer reports in recent days of such incidents, which have burned large tracts of agricultural land and forests in southern Israel.

 

Israel also expanded Gaza's fishing zone, in waters under Israeli naval blockade, from 3 to 9 nautical miles off the southern coast and to six nautical miles in the north, the head of Gaza's fishermen's union said.

 

The Oslo interim peace accords in the early 1990s set a 20 nautical mile limit, which was never implemented. Since then the zone has ranged in size between 3 and 6 nautical miles.

 

"We are hoping for a big catch at nine miles now," said Khader Baker, 25, who owns two fishing boats. "There had been almost no fish within three miles. We nearly starved."

 

Prior restrictions on the import of commercial goods that Israel says could also be used for military purposes remained in effect, a Palestinian border official said. He said they included balloons and tyres.

 

COMPREHENSIVE TRUCE

Egypt and the United Nations have been trying to broker a comprehensive truce to prevent more fighting and to ease the deep economic hardship in Gaza.

 

Hamas officials said Palestinian factions were in Cairo to discuss terms for a ceasefire with Israel.

 

Welcoming the reopening of the crossing, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement he was "encouraged to see that those concerned have responded to calls to avoid the devastating impact of yet another conflict on the civilian population in and around Gaza".

 

Guterres urged all parties "to support the efforts of U.N. Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov and Egypt to avoid an escalation and address all humanitarian issues in Gaza and the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza".

 

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party in the governing coalition, put Netanyahu on notice that his faction would vote against an agreement with Hamas.

 

"This 'quiet' will give Hamas total immunity so that it can rearm itself with tens of thousands of rockets," Bennett said in a statement.

 

For more than a decade Gaza has been controlled by Hamas and subject to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has wrecked its economy, creating what the World Bank has described as a humanitarian crisis with shortages of water, electricity and medicine.

 

Israel says it has no choice but to enforce its blockade to defend itself against Hamas, a group that has called for its destruction.

 

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-16

[Emster23]

I suppose allowing them to eat is a good thing.... ?. Saw BBC witness clip yesterday about Palestinian female athlete (went to Athens Olympics) not even given travel papers to go to meet in West Bank (still Palestinian as far as we can tell).  If that doesn't sound like treatment at a prison, please explain why....

[wombat]

Does Israel pay halal tax?

[Peasandmash]

the Israelis are far too compassionate. being the true children of God has it's draw backs.

[spidermike007]

This despot regime, posing as a democracy, is allowing the Palestinians to eat. So very charitable of them. And they call themselves the chosen people? Chosen by themselves, maybe. I sort of doubt if God even knows the first names of the Israeli politicians. They are completely lost. 

[sanemax]

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

This despot regime, posing as a democracy, is allowing the Palestinians to eat. So very charitable of them. And they call themselves the chosen people? Chosen by themselves, maybe. I sort of doubt if God even knows the first names of the Israeli politicians. They are completely lost. 

Needs to be said that the Egyptians are also imposing a blockade on Gaza

[Bluespunk]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

But the prospect of an agreement between Israel and the Islamist group prompted concern within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government that Hamas would take advantage of any respite from fighting to build up its rocket arsenal.

Rock, meet hard place. 

 

Oh, the complications of negotiations between bigots at both ends of the spectrum. 

 

“You will never overcome your self righteousness if you continue to believe that God prefers you over other people.”

 

Shannon L. Alder

[finnishmen]

israel help his enemys ?? stupid,waste time and money and food if help gaza idiots, better fight atom bomb to all gaza area and thern all proplems has solved. gaza must be destroy ALL. i has working near gaza before and idiot terrorist fight homemade rocket manytime to farmers area and childrens school motorway etc, many stupid terrors. better deswtroy all gaza terrorist who use childrens and womand human shield and kill own peoples lot too.

[Jingthing]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

This despot regime, posing as a democracy, is allowing the Palestinians to eat. So very charitable of them. And they call themselves the chosen people? Chosen by themselves, maybe. I sort of doubt if God even knows the first names of the Israeli politicians. They are completely lost. 

Another sad case where justified criticism of Israeli government policy bleeds into anti-Semitic rhetoric.

 

Quote

Although criticism of Israel is entirely legitimate and is not inherently anti-Semitic, Estrada consistently ignores the difference between Israelis and Jews, and has argued that Israeli policies and Zionism more generally are inspired by a sense of Jewish supremacism and disregard for others.  For example, on December 8, 2017, in reaction to Israeli actions in Gaza, Estrada wrote, “These are God’s ‘chosen people,’” referring (presumably ironically) to a biblical term for Jews. She continued, “Zionism, like any other religious fanaticism is wrong [sic].” This type of anti-Zionist rhetoric has been used by many anti-Semites as an attack on the Jewish religion as a whole.

https://www.adl.org/blog/zionists-are-the-fing-worst-california-assembly-candidate-estrada-attacks-jews-who-support

[Morch]

5 hours ago, Emster23 said:

I suppose allowing them to eat is a good thing.... ?. Saw BBC witness clip yesterday about Palestinian female athlete (went to Athens Olympics) not even given travel papers to go to meet in West Bank (still Palestinian as far as we can tell).  If that doesn't sound like treatment at a prison, please explain why....

 

Seems like some people entertain the misconception that entering Israel is an unalienable right of the Palestinians. It isn't. How this equates with "treatment in prison" - I've no idea. The West Bank being "still Palestinian" is a contentious statement, and regardless - effectively irrelevant for the off topic case brought up.

[Morch]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

This despot regime, posing as a democracy, is allowing the Palestinians to eat. So very charitable of them. And they call themselves the chosen people? Chosen by themselves, maybe. I sort of doubt if God even knows the first names of the Israeli politicians. They are completely lost. 

 

Seems like all you know are hyperbole posts and rants, regardless of topic. Guess you sort of missed out on the actions taken by the Hamas regime, or the fact that the blockade is effectively maintained by Egypt as well. "Allowing to eat" - just another day in rantland.

[Ron19]

Off topic post removed.

[gamini]

3 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Seems like some people entertain the misconception that entering Israel is an unalienable right of the Palestinians. It isn't. How this equates with "treatment in prison" - I've no idea. The West Bank being "still Palestinian" is a contentious statement, and regardless - effectively irrelevant for the off topic case brought up.

What hypocrisy! It is Israel which seems to think that it has the unalienable right to enter Palestine whenever the desire so. Palestineans do have a right to enter Israel to return to their homes seized by the Israelis

[Cereal]

6 hours ago, finnishmen said:

israel help his enemys ?? stupid,waste time and money and food if help gaza idiots, better fight atom bomb to all gaza area and thern all proplems has solved. gaza must be destroy ALL. i has working near gaza before and idiot terrorist fight homemade rocket manytime to farmers area and childrens school motorway etc, many stupid terrors. better deswtroy all gaza terrorist who use childrens and womand human shield and kill own peoples lot too.

I see Google translate is up to its usual snuff.

[Morch]

1 hour ago, gamini said:

What hypocrisy! It is Israel which seems to think that it has the unalienable right to enter Palestine whenever the desire so. Palestineans do have a right to enter Israel to return to their homes seized by the Israelis

 

Did you bother to read the post I replied to? It dealt with a specific case, if an off-topic one. Regardless of your views, I somehow doubt that you actually believe most countries allow uncontrolled entry. All the more so when this involves potential hostiles.

 

Despite appearances, this topic is about the Gaza Strip. There are no Israelis there (apart from a couple held by Hamas), and Israel generally prevents Israelis from crossing over.

 

And no, there is not such unconditional "right of return" such as you imply. The so-called Palestinian "right of return" requires recognition of Israel, acceptance of its sovereignty and having no hostile/violent intents. Further, it is unlikely that most of them "homes seized" still exist. Either way - this isn't what the topic is about, really. The scope of the OP is rather narrower.

 

[metisdead]

Posts containing off topic generalizations have been removed as well as the replies. 

[AdamTheFarang]

1 minute ago, metisdead said:

Posts containing off topic generalizations have been removed as well as the replies. 

Thank you I had asked for his to be removed for flaming.

[gamini]

On 8/16/2018 at 8:22 PM, Morch said:

 

Did you bother to read the post I replied to? It dealt with a specific case, if an off-topic one. Regardless of your views, I somehow doubt that you actually believe most countries allow uncontrolled entry. All the more so when this involves potential hostiles.

 

Despite appearances, this topic is about the Gaza Strip. There are no Israelis there (apart from a couple held by Hamas), and Israel generally prevents Israelis from crossing over.

 

And no, there is not such unconditional "right of return" such as you imply. The so-called Palestinian "right of return" requires recognition of Israel, acceptance of its sovereignty and having no hostile/violent intents. Further, it is unlikely that most of them "homes seized" still exist. Either way - this isn't what the topic is about, really. The scope of the OP is rather narrower.

 

nonsense.   The Gaza strip is like a prison controlled by the Israelis.

[Jingthing]

nonsense.   The Gaza strip is like a prison controlled by the Israelis.

And Hamas has nothing to do with it. Yeah. That's the ticket.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[sanemax]

On 8/19/2018 at 12:03 PM, gamini said:

nonsense.   The Gaza strip is like a prison controlled by the Israelis.

Israel has every right to secure its borders and every right to allow or disallow items from entering or leaving its Country .

[Morch]

On 8/19/2018 at 12:03 PM, gamini said:

nonsense.   The Gaza strip is like a prison controlled by the Israelis.

 

Nonsense would be repeating a one-liner slogan, which demonstrates your inability (or unwillingness) to grasp a complex situation. Thanks for sharing.