BICOM

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that both Israel and the United Nations (UN) had agreed a procedure for importing materials into the Gaza Strip which would by-pass Hamas.

At a meeting of Palestinian leaders yesterday, Abbas said in televised comments that an agreement had been signed “which allows the entry of all materials to Gaza and the exporting of what’s possible to export from Gaza abroad, which will alleviate the living burdens on the people.” The New York Times says that a UN diplomat confirmed the deal although there was no comment from Israeli leaders.

50 days of fighting during Operation Protective Edge came to an end on 26 August after Egypt brokered an open-ended truce between Israel and Hamas which has held ever since. However, Hamas has so far been unable to deliver on its demands, including that borders be opened for the free flow of goods.

A key aspect of Gaza’s reconstruction would appear to be the involvement of the PA with international donors unlikely to agree to any other body overseeing the process and its requisite funds. Hamas has controlled Gaza since forcibly seizing power from President Abbas’s Fatah faction in 2007. Earlier this week, Abbas threatened to dissolve the Palestinian unity government formed in June with Hamas backing, unless Hamas recognise “one authority, one gun, one law” in Gaza in the form of PA control.

Also yesterday, Hamas’s deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk suggested that Hamas could talk directly with Israel, rather than the current practice through Egyptian mediators. He told Al-Quds TV, “Up to now, our policy has been not to negotiate directly with Israel, but … we’re not talking about something that is forbidden according to sharia law.” However, it is unclear whether Marzouk was speaking on behalf of Hamas’s entire leadership. Such a change in negotiating tactics would also be unlikely to alter Hamas’s refusal to recognise Israel’s right to exist and its ideological commitment to Israel’s destruction.