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Egypt Tightens Closure On Gaza As Israel Eases It
[Ynet] Three months after Gazoo op, rehabilitation gathers pace; while al-Sissi closes all ways of access to Strip, Israeli allows large quantity of construction materials to enter under monitoring system.Work to rehabilitate the Gazoo Strip is set to expand next week, coinciding with the complete isolation of the Strip after Egypt shut the Rafah Crossing in light of a further deterioration in relations between the Egyptian government and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,. UN Special envoy Robert Serry announced on Saturday that under the trilateral agreement between Israel, the Paleostinian Authority and the UN, signed in September, widespread rebuilding efforts will begin within the next several days. In September, Israel agreed to a proposal to establish a mechanism for reconstructing the Strip after Operation Protective Edge, under the supervision and control of the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... According to the IDF, the mechanism would allow for progress on rebuilding the strip on one hand, while maintaining Israel's security interests on the other. The mechanism was approved by the political establishment in Israel after coordination between the UN envoy to the Middle East Robert Serry, Paleostinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, and COGAT Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai. Next week, the monitoring systems overseeing the building materials entering the Strip will be activated, keeping watch with the use of GPS tracking over the sources receiving the materials. Access to the computerized system will be open to Israel, monitoring sources within the Paleostinians government and to the UN. In addition, significant amounts of construction materials will enter Gazoo, including cement and heavy machinery used for rebuilding efforts. International inspectors who will ensure that the materials are used solely for their intended civilian purpose are already in the Gazoo Strip. Additional inspectors will arrive within the next several days. Serry announced that as part of the first stage, around 25,000 people whose homes were destroyed during the military operation will be able to access construction materials to rebuild their damaged homes, before the beginning of winter. Paleostinian and Israeli sources confirmed the details. The UN envoy reportedly criticized the fact that countries that pledged to donate money for the construction of the Gazoo Strip at the international donors conference in Cairo did not do so yet, and urged them to transfer the funds as quickly as possible. The widespread construction in Gazoo will be underway while the Strip will be left completely isolated after Egypt's closure of the Rafah Crossing, following the continuing decline of relations between Hamas and Egypt. On Saturday, the Paleostinian Ma'an News Agency reported that the Egyptian army completed its clearing of the border area as part of preparations to implement a 500-meter (550-yard) buffer zone along Egypt's 13-kilometer (8-mile) border with Gazoo. According to the report, troops demolished about 800 houses in the area, erasing in the process entire neighborhoods such as Rafah's Saladin and others. In recent days, reports emerged that the Egyptian army intends to double the depth of a security buffer zone. "A decision was taken to increase the buffer zone along the border in Rafah to one kilometer. The decision... came after the discovery of underground tunnels with a total length of 800 to 1,000 meters," the state MENA news agency said. Posted by: trailing wife 2014-11-23 |
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