by Daniel Siryoti and Israel Hayom Staff
Shipping route part of wider, Egyptian-brokered truce between Hamas and Israel.
Israel and Qatar
have begun planning a maritime trade route between the Gaza Strip and
Cyprus, Lebanese media reported Saturday.
According to the reports, the shipping
route will be closely monitored by Israel and will include
sophisticated security measures, including cameras and electronic
sensors.
Israeli media reported in June that Israel and Cyprus were looking into developing a similar plan in hopes of alleviating the dire economic crisis in Gaza.
Gaza has been under an Israeli maritime
blockade since 2007, when the Hamas terrorist group seized control of
the Strip in a military coup. Israel maintains the blockade is
necessary to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons and terrorists in
and out of Gaza.
On Thursday, the London-based
Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported that Egyptian President
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi convinced Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas to sign off on a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, after months in which the Palestinian leader had been actively trying to torpedo such a deal.
Cairo has been trying to mediate a truce
between Israel and Hamas for the past several months, in an effort
to prevent a series of escalating border flare-ups from devolving
into a full-fledged war.
According to reports in Lebanon over the
weekend, the shipping route plan would be part of the economic
relief measures offered to Hamas as part of the Egyptian-brokered deal.
Daniel Siryoti and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/11/11/report-israel-qatar-planning-maritime-trade-route-for-gaza/
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