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Israel pushes Gaza blockade talks to today
Israel’s internal security chief, Yuval Diskin, voiced opposition in a briefing to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday to any lifting of Israel’s naval blockade of the territory, home to 1.5 million Palestinians and run by Hamas. Israel faces international calls to ease or lift its Gaza embargo following the killing by Israeli commandos of nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists during the storming at sea of an aid convoy on May 31.
Israel imposed the blockade soon after Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election in 2006. Restrictions were tightened after Hamas took over power in Gaza the following year.
New plan
Under a plan drawn up in coordination with Middle East envoy Tony Blair, Israel could move from a policy of banning the entry of many commercial goods into Gaza, except a few designated items, to accepting all products and prohibiting only those proscribed on a list, diplomats said.
Blair represents the Quartet of international powers -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- seeking Middle East peace. He held talks last week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The former British leader said on Monday Israel had agreed in principle to easing the blockade “in days.” Israeli Cabinet minister Isaac Herzog, who has called for the lifting of the blockade, said on Army Radio on Wednesday the measure was “outdated and no longer applicable in the current international and diplomatic climate.”
A network of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt keeps the enclave supplied with a variety of commercial goods. Hamas maintains its own tunnels, which Israel alleges are also used for weapons smuggling. Humanitarian aid shipments are transferred regularly via border crossings with Israel, but international aid groups say more supplies are needed.
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