GAZA CITY: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh warned on Thursday that a truce between the Gaza Strip and Israel has entered the “danger zone,” accusing Israel of delaying the implementation of agreements.
In a meeting with foreign journalists in Gaza, Haniyeh said: “The occupation has not yet provided freedom of movement through the crossings.”
He accused Israel of “extortion” with regard to the limitations it imposes on the Gaza fishing zone and said it “impedes electricity projects and other operation projects and the establishment of the industrial zone, and imposes severe restrictions on the entry of funds into Gaza.”
Just three days ago, Hamas said in a statement to local reporters that “Gaza is witnessing the implementation of a new phase of the understandings to break the siege with a larger package of measures.”
Haniyeh told the foreign reporters on Thursday, however, that “unfortunately so far the Palestinian citizen didn’t feel or taste the fruit of these understandings.”
A ceasefire was mediated by Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar in May, following the latest escalation between the two sides.
Haniyeh also addressed the upcoming economic workshop in Bahrain, a US initiative which seeks to encourage investment in the Palestinian territories.
Whoever “wants to implement a project in the Gaza Strip will be welcome,” Haniyeh said, but added that it must not be attached to any political price. “We are not selling our principles and homeland for money.”
— dpa
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