A Briefing Next Week to Israel on Hamas Cease Fire
Hamas keeping Gaza Population Hostage,
To make Israel look like Monster,
To Increase World Pressure,
To accept Cease Fire!
May 9, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Suleiman expected here next week
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST
May 9, 2008
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is scheduled to visit Israel next week for talks on Cairo’s efforts to achieve a cease-fire between the Palestinians and Israel, an Egyptian diplomat confirmed Thursday.
Suleiman would brief government officials on his efforts to achieve a temporary truce, first in the Gaza Strip and later in the West Bank, the diplomat told The Jerusalem Post.
“Gen. Suleiman will convey to Israel the position of the Palestinian factions vis-a-vis the Egyptian initiative
for a truce,” the diplomat said, adding that Hamas and all the Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip had accepted the proposal.
Suleiman is expected to urge Israel to accept the initiative and to halt its military operations against Hamas and other Palestinian groups, according to the diplomat.
“Egypt’s efforts have been successful,” he said. “We have managed to persuade all the Palestinian groups to agree to a six-month truce, first in the Gaza Strip and later in the West Bank. There’s no reason why Israel should not accept the initiative.”
Egypt had made it clear it was planning to reopen the Rafah border crossing between Sinai and Gaza in the coming weeks, after the Palestinians agreed to the truce proposal, the diplomat said. “The ball is now in the Israeli court,” he added. “If Israel does not accept the proposal, the situation will deteriorate.”
Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar warned on Thursday that Israel would not enjoy stability and security unless it accepted the Egyptian initiative. He also said Hamas would not discuss kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Schalit until Israel lifted the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“The lives of millions of Israelis will be at stake unless Israel accepts the Egyptian proposal and removes the blockade,” he said. “We hope our brothers in Egypt will reopen the Rafah border crossing in the near future because there is no justification for its continued closure.”
Zahar claimed that Israel had initiated the truce by asking Egypt to mediate with Hamas. “The Egyptians are very keen on achieving a truce because they are worried about their national security,” he said. “They don’t want a repetition of the events that happened along the border with the Gaza Strip earlier this year,” he said, in a reference to Hamas’s breach of the Sinai border on January 23.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt during the next 12 days.
Begin Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA)
Behind the Headlines: Hamas holding civilian population in Gaza hostage.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
May 8, 2008
By seizing the fuel, food, and medical supplies that Israel is transferring to the Gaza Strip, and using the supplies itself, the Hamas terror organization is basically holding the civilian population of Gaza hostage.
Israel has continued to supply fuel, food, medical supplies and other
humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip, despite Hamas attacks precisely on those crossings Israel must use to transfer the supplies.
It is apparent that Hamas is targeting the crossings in order to prevent
the transfer of humanitarian aid to the civilian population, thus both needlessly depriving its own population as well as causing an artificial humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Clearly, Hamas wants to create a crisis in order that international pressure will be placed on Israel.
Recent reports indicate that not only is Hamas depriving the civilization population, it is allocating the supplies for its own use.
Hamas steals fuel from the civilian population
A Jerusalem Post Report on the 29th of April, ( ) states that Hamas stole 60,000 liters of fuel from the civilian population of Gaza. This was confirmed by the head of the Palestinian Authority’s gas agency, who added that Hamas gunmen had raided the Palestinian side of the Nahal Oz fuel terminal, stealing at least 60,000 liters of fuel meant for the Gaza power station, for use in their own vehicles.
The London Independent reports on the artificial crisis caused by Hamas, which even caused the UN to suspend food aid to 650,000 refugees in the Gaza Strip after running out of fuel for its delivery vehicles.
An emergency tanker sent to the Nahal Oz terminal was turned back by demonstrators, and was forced to return empty.
EU condemns Hamas actions which lead to further suffering of the Palestinian population
On 24 April, the Presidency of the EU Open Document stated that Hamas activities were obstructing and even preventing humanitarian work by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Hamas nationalizing fuel supplies meant for the civilian population
In another report, Nissim Keinan of Israel’s Second Radio channel reported on 4 May that Hamas was in fact holding the civilian population hostage.
He stated that Hamas has nationalized all the fuel supplies transferred by Israel for the civilian population, and for operation of the electricity plant, and is using it solely for its own purposes. In addition, food sent by the donor countries is allocated in accordance with Hamas instructions.
Of the thousands of tons of grains, food and fuel that were transferred, none was able to reach the civilian population.
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