BICOM

The European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Council, a forum of all EU foreign ministers met this week to discuss a variety of matters including the Middle East Peace Process. Among their conclusions, the council praised Israel for the measures it has taken to ease restrictions in the Gaza Strip.

A statement issued on behalf of the 28 foreign ministers following the meeting addressed a number of issues. These included Israeli settlement building and in particular, it warned against potential demolitions in the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya in the West Bank.

However, the statement also praised “recent steps taken by Israel to ease restrictions on Gaza.” By contrast, it also said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) “must take greater responsibility in this regard and assume its government function in the Gaza Strip,” calling this a “top priority.” In May, international donors similarly recognised “Israeli efforts to increase the volume of materials into Gaza,” while in June Middle East Minister Tobias Ellwood commented, “We welcome the recent steps that Israel has taken in Gaza, increasing exports, electricity and water.”

During 2015, Israel has introduced a range of measures meant to ease movement in and out of the Gaza Strip, in order to aid reconstruction. The amount of water Israel supplies to Gaza was doubled after a coastal aquifer had become ineffective. Israel also increased the number of entry and exit permits to Gaza merchants and has also facilitated the export of significant Gaza produce to the West Bank, an important market for the Gaza economy. In recent months between 1,000 and 1,500 trucks have entered Gaza each week from Israel, including hundreds of trucks of construction materials.

During the same period, there have been numerous reports that Hamas has test fired rockets into the Mediterranean Sea. The Telegraph reported earlier this year that Iran had transferred millions of pounds to enable Hamas to rebuild its complex network of attack tunnels and replenish its rocket supplies.