Israel Suggests Opening Border Crossing for Hamas in Return for Complete Ceasefire

  • 7/23/2018
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After Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire following a wave of strikes on Gaza, Israeli army Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot toured on Sunday morning the scene in which First Sergeant Aviv Levy was killed on Friday near the Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, for his part, suggested during a visit to Karem Abu Salem crossing, aka Kerem Shalom Crossing, that Israel would fully reopen the main crossing for goods into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday if the current calm in the territory holds over the next two days. Lieberman stressed that calm also meant an end to months of kites and balloons carrying firebombs over the border fence from the Palestinian enclave to burn Israeli farming lands. “Yesterday (Saturday) was one of the calmest days, perhaps, since March 30,” Liberman said. “If that situation continues today (Sunday) and tomorrow as it was yesterday, then on Tuesday we will revive the regular procedures and also expand the fishing zone to what it was before.” “Residents of the Gaza Strip need to understand that so long as there are incendiary balloons and fires on our side, their side will also not go back to normal and to routine,” Liberman added. “The key to all this is quiet, calm, zero incendiary balloons, zero clashes on the fence and zero rockets or, heaven forbid, gunfire,” Liberman said. He also called on the people in Gaza to protest in the streets against the rule of Hamas and overthrow the movement. Israeli experts and analysts responded to Lieberman’s statements and accused his government of failing to set a clear policy toward the Palestinians in general and Gaza Strip in particular. Political analyst in Maariv Newspaper Ben Caspit said that last week “reminded us of the extent of the pain of burying a young soldier.” “Israel has entered another round of combat against Hamas, which is unnecessary and fundamentally useless. As long as the Government of Israel adheres to its current policy of maintaining Hamas at all costs, the soldiers who will be buried in the next round will die for no cost.” Senior Analyst at Yedioth Ahronoth Nahum Barnea said that this round has ended at the same point as 2014 Gaza war, all the fundamental problems that led to that confrontation and the current confrontation. “Nothing has been resolved, nothing has been advanced and the problems have become even more serious,” Barnea said.

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