US envoy: PA must resume its role in Gaza's administration - Shlomo Cesana and Lilach Shoval

by Shlomo Cesana and Lilach Shoval

Hamas has severely harmed enclave's residents and has failed to meet their most basic needs, he says during tour of the Israel-Gaza Strip border.

Special U.S. envoy Jason Greenblatt at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, near the Israel-Gaza Strip border, Wednesday |Photo credit: Reuters

U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt toured the Gaza-vicinity area Wednesday, visiting the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip, as well as one of the terror tunnels the military discovered running under Israel's shared border with the enclave. 

Greenblatt was briefed on security concerns in the area by Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai.

The envoy also visited Kibbutz Nahal Oz, 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Israel-Gaza Strip border and the Iron Dome defense system battery deployed in the area.

He met with Shaar Hanegev Regional Council head Alon Shuster and spoke to local residents, who shared the experience of living under the constant threat of terrorist rocket fire. 

Briefing Greenblatt, Mordechai explained that digging one mile of a terror tunnel costs Hamas $200,000. 

"This means that instead of a tunnel they [Hamas] could build hospitals in the Gaza Strip, but Hamas prioritizes the interests of its military wing and terrorism over the interests of the Palestinian population, which is a very low priority," Mordechai said. 

"Hamas acts cynically and exploits humanitarian aid to bolster its military capabilities, leaving the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to pay the price for its conduct."

Mordechai stressed that "the task of securing the return of the missing IDF soldiers has yet to be completed, and we will not allow significant development in the Gaza Strip without resolving the issue first." 

Greenblatt said that he learned a great deal about the difficult challenges facing the IDF, Israeli residents living in border-adjacent communities and Gazans themselves, over Hamas' misuse of humanitarian aid and its commitment to terrorism and violence. 

He said that the Palestinian Authority clearly "had to resume its role" in Gaza's administration, as "Hamas has severely harmed the residents and has failed to meet their most basic needs." 

Greenblatt further urged Hamas to return the remains Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, and to release Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Hisham al-Sayed, both suffering from mental health issues, who crossed into Gaza voluntarily in 2014 and 2015 and are believed to have been captured by Hamas. 

Shlomo Cesana and Lilach Shoval

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=45015

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