TEL AVIV, July 8, 2015 (WAFA) – Several senior
Israeli military officers Wednesday recommended taking measures to ease
restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip, reported Israeli media.
Israeli daily Haaretz reported on unnamed senior
Israeli military officers recommending that the opening of Gaza border
crossings be expanded.
The recommendations involve allowing “thousands of Palestinians to travel abroad by entering
Israel via the Erez crossing and leaving the country to Jordan via the Allenby
Bridge,” as well as permitting “merchandise into Gaza through the Karni
crossing and expand]ing[ the use of the
Kerem Shalom crossing.”
They would also involve issuing permits “for Palestinians
from the Gaza Strip to work in Israeli communities near the border.”
The unnamed believe that such measures “could
help achieve relatively long-term quiet” and “could have added value in
reducing international criticism of Israel over its closure of the Gaza Strip.”
One of the senior officers, who chose to remain
unidentified, was quoted in Haaretz as saying: “As
long as the basic economic problems in Gaza remain, we will also have the
potential for renewed military conflict, without connection to the extent of
deterrence achieved in the last war.”
The newspaper reported however that it is uncertain whether Israel will have the political will to implement such measures.
A number of Palestinian analysts and
politicians commented on the Israeli proposal, saying that lifting the Israeli
blockade on the strip, and not merely easing it, is an unquestionable national
right.
They warned of falling into the unilateral
Israeli scheme, through which Israel attempts to dictate the reality of
internal division between the strip and the rest of the West Bank.
Palestinian political analyst, Ahmad Awad, told WAFA that this Israeli plan is part of an economic bribery that Israel is using as an alternative for reaching a permanent political solution that guarantees the Palestinian eligible rights.
K.F/M.H
