Israel eases Gaza restrictions as Qatar official enters enclave

The easing of restrictions also came a day after Israel security cabinet convened on Sunday and in the aftermath of a meeting in Brussels between Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.Yair Lapid and the Egyptian foreign minister meeting for the first time. (Photo credit: Gabi Farkash)

Egypt is holding indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in an attempt to broker a Gaza ceasefire, now that calm between the two sides has been restored. The United Nations is assisting Egypt and the United States along with the European Union are playing supportive roles.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr arrived in Israel on Sunday to hold separate talks with Israelis, Palestinians and UN officials.

Among the issues stymieing progress is Israel’s demand that Hamas must release the remains of two soldiers killed in the 2014 Gaza war and free two Israelis held hostage there.

Hamas in turn wants to see the restoration of the $30 million Qatari cash payments, divided between impoverished Gaza families and civil servant salaries.

Israel wants a mechanism to ensure that such payments as well as the entry into Gaza of goods, particularly, dual use items would not be diverted to Hamas for military use.

The international community also wants such a mechanism, but is willing to already have Israel fully reopen its two crossings, the commercial one at Kerem Shalom and the pedestrian one at Erez.

Israel on Monday agreed, however, to ease some of its restrictions. It had fully closed the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossing, when the 11-day war Gaza war broke out in May and has not yet allowed them to operate at full capacity. Egypt has kept open its crossing in to Gaza at Rafah, but that is not set up for full scale commercial use.

On Monday, the Office for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that “imports to the Gaza Strip from Israel of medical equipment, fishing equipment, raw materials for industry and textiles, will be permitted via the Kerem Shalom crossing. 

“Agricultural and textile exports from the Gaza Strip to Israel will be permitted as well,” COGAT stated.

It added that, “in light of the recent security calm, following a situational security assessment and with the approval of the political echelon – the fishing zone in the Gaza Strip will be extended from 9 to 12 nautical miles, effective as of this morning (Monday).”

COGAT clarified that “the civilian measures approved by the political echelon are conditional upon the continued preservation of security stability.”

On Sunday, Emadi arrived in the Gaza Strip for the first time since the Gaza war, also known as Operation Guardian of the Walls, according to Palestinian media.

He is expected to discuss humanitarian situation with officials in the coastal enclave and to follow up on the implementation of Qatari projects. Emadi will also examine the issue of distributing funds to poor families in the strip and reconstruction of buildings destroyed in the conflict.

The Palestinian Authority foreign minister accused Israel of attempting to reignite Gaza violence through its restrictions at the crossing, particularly its ban on the entry of construction material.

“The Israeli blockade has led to sabotaging the lives of the Palestinian citizens and declining the level of basic services provided, under the pressure of Israeli delay and extortion,” the PA Foreign Ministry said, according to the Palestinian News Agency WAFA.

Last Thursday the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories Lynn Hastings visited Gaza.

Upon her return to Jerusalem on Friday, Hastings called on Israel to fully open the crossing.

“Without a return to regular and predictable entry of goods into Gaza, the capacity of the UN and our partners to deliver critical interventions is at risk, as are the livelihoods of and basic services for the people in Gaza,” she said. 

“The UN currently estimates that 250,000 people are still without regular access to piped water, and that 185,000 are relying on unsafe water sources or paying higher prices for bottled water. 

“The critical agricultural sector, a main source of food and income in Gaza is at risk, including the current planting season,” Hastings.

She said that the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism established after the 2014 Gaza war was effective in preventing Hamas from confiscating humanitarian aid and that no new mechanism was needed.

“Several large infrastructure projects, including those submitted and approved through the GRM, prior to the escalation, are currently on hold due to the restrictions on importing the needed materials,” Hastings said.