Israel slammed for feet-dragging over Gaza
A top Middle East envoy has criticised Israel in especially tough language for moving too slowly on negotiations to open Gaza’s borders, saying the country is behaving almost as if the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip never happened.
James Wolfensohn, a special envoy working on behalf of the US and other foreign mediators, has said that without dramatic progress soon, a rare chance to revive Gaza’s shattered economy – and the peace process – will be lost.
Meanwhile, violence between Israel and the Palestinians quickly escalated after Israeli troops killed Luay Saadi, a top Palestinian fugitive, and a close accomplice in a pre-dawn shootout in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank. Saadi, the leader of Islamic Jihad’s military wing in the West Bank, was blamed for the deaths of 12 Israelis in a series of attacks in recent months.
Islamic Jihad threatened revenge and launched at least two home-made rockets from Gaza into Israel, causing no injuries. Israel, which said it would not tolerate any attacks from Gaza since it pulled out of the territory last month, responded by launching artillery and firing missiles from helicopters at open fields in northern Gaza that militants used to fire rockets, the army said. There were no injuries.
Early today, Israeli aircraft also fired missiles at a building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun used by Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades militants and a second building housing an Islamic Jihad welfare institution in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza, slightly injuring one woman, the Israeli army and Palestinian officials said.
Israel closed the Rafah crossing into Egypt, Gaza’s main link to the outside world, shortly before it withdrew from Gaza. It also has severely restricted the passage of Palestinian labourers and goods in and out of Israel, the main Palestinian export market, since an earlier wave of rocket attacks right after the pullout.
Israeli officials say the measures are solely due to security considerations.
Wolfensohn has acknowledged such concerns, but accused Israel of unnecessary delays in restoring movement across the borders. He said the stalling is preventing him from moving on to larger reconstruction efforts, such as tourism, agriculture and industrial projects.
“The government of Israel, with its important security concerns, is loath to relinquish control, almost acting as though there has been no withdrawal, delaying making difficult decisions and preferring to take difficult matters back into slow-moving subcommittees,” Wolfensohn wrote in an October 17 letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
He said the differences could be quickly resolved, and expressed disappointment he didn’t reach a solution during a trip to the region earlier this month.
Among other issues, he said Israel delayed a key element of new border arrangements – the deployment of foreign inspectors from the European Union at Rafah.
The reopening of the borders is essential for economic recovery in Gaza, where unemployment is well over 30 percent.
“We all were hoping after the withdrawal the economic recovery will be enhanced. What has happened is exactly the contrary,” said Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan Khatib. “In the current situation, Gaza is really like a big prison.”
In his letter, Wolfensohn also criticised the Palestinians for raising salaries during a fiscal crisis, for their inability to control violence and chaos and the Palestinian Authority’s inability to function properly.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the government wants Gaza to be a “success story” and understands the need to reopen the border crossings. But he said Israel’s security must be kept in mind.
