Haniya says Gaza siege will be fully lifted after 10 days of truce

Friday June 20, 2008 23:24 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Prime Minister of the Palestinian government n Gaza, Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniya, stated on Friday that the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip will be fully lifted after ten days of truce between Hamas and Israel. The truce took effect on Thursday.

In a speech after Friday prayers at a local mosque in Gaza, Haniya said that food supplies will start flowing into Gaza 72 hours after the truce and that after 10 days of truce the siege will be fully lifted and the Israeli occupation government will start opening the crossings.

The Hamas leader added that this deal was achieved through Egyptian intervention and mediation.

Haniya added that the success of this truce depends on the Israeli commitment to it, and refused to accept Israeli demands to condition the release of the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, with the success of the truce.

He said that the issue of Shalit is another issue which will be dealt with through a prisoner-swap deal.

“We want to end the case of Shalit as soon as possible in order to achieve the release of our detainees”, Haniya stated, “but truce and the release of Shalit are two different issues”.

Haniya added that a list of the names of 450 detainees was provided to Egypt, which acts as a mediator, and that Israel must approve the release of those detainees if it wants to end the issue of Shalit.

Regarding opening the Rafah Border Crossing, Haniya said that Egypt will invite the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, the European observers and Hamas for a meeting in Cairo in order to discuss this issue.

“We demanded our Egyptian brothers to open the crossing for urgent cases until we achieve an agreement to fully open it”, Haniya said, “The Israeli siege had failed in pushing us to make concessions, and failed in isolating us, we are having talks with Arab and European countries”.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation government spokesperson, Mark Regev, stated that the ceasefire deal includes stopping all attacks against Israel and stopping arms smuggling into Gaza.

Israeli sources reported that the Egyptian security forces are facing difficulties in stopping the arms smuggling through the borders as smugglers are using underground tunnels and boats.

Haniya: The truce success depends on Israel's commitment to its items

[ 21/06/2008 - 08:17 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Ismail Haniya, the premier of the PA caretaker government, stated Friday that the success of the calm depends on the Israeli commitment, underlining that there is a consensus between the political Palestinian factions and the resistance not to violate the truce agreement despite their reservations about its items.

In a Khutba (sermon) delivered yesterday in the Palestine mosque, Haniya said that it was the first time Israel recognized the principle of reciprocity in a truce, pointing that within 72 hours of the announcement of the calm, Israel would open the crossings and allow in goods and commodities to the Gaza Strip.

Regarding the issue of Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit, the premier underscored that the Palestinian resistance had provided Israel a preliminary list of 450 names out of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for its soldier, adding that the Israeli leaders have to approve that in order to close this file.

In another context, the premier said that delegations of Hamas, Fatah and EU will meet within the next few days in Cairo to discuss the mechanisms of opening and administrating the Rafah border crossing, noting that he asked the Egyptian officials to open the crossing before medical cases until an agreement regarding it has been reached.

The premier highlighted during his speech that the tightening Israeli siege had failed to prompt his government to make political concessions or isolate the Gaza people from the world.

In a related context, Dr. Ismail Radwan, a prominent Hamas leader, stated that the statement of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Movement, about attacking the Israeli occupation if it breached the truce agreement reflects that the strategy adopted by the Movement is a combination of politics and resistance.

Dr. Radwan added that if Israel did not respond to the calm obligations, the situation would return to the status quo ante and then Hamas would not stand idle towards it, but he pointed out that the coming days will determine and judge the extent of Israel's commitment to the truce agreement.

Solana: “EU ready to send observers to monitor the Rafah Border Crossing”

Friday June 20, 2008 23:41 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, stated on Friday the EU is ready to act as an observer at the Rafah border terminal if an agreement to open the crossing was achieved.

European Union foreign policy chief - Javier Solana

Solana welcomed that truce deal between Israel and the Palestinians and expressed hopes that this truce would last.

 He also welcomed the Egyptian role and efforts which led to this deal and called on all parties to abide by the truce in order to ensure its success.

 The EU chief added that he hopes that this deal will be a positive factor which would boost peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

 Meanwhile, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, said on Friday that Egypt will call for a meeting which would bring together Hamas, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and European officials in order to discuss the opening of the Rafah terminal.

The truce officially started on Thursday morning. Two hours before the truce came into effect, Israeli soldiers shot and killed one Palestinian and injured two others in the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, a Palestinian group calling itself the Return and Struggle Brigades, one of the offshoots of Fateh movement, carried an attack which targeted settlers hiking near the West Bank city of Ramallah and wounded three of them.

The ceasefire remains in effect, yet fragile and any minor issue could trigger its collapse. Hamas movement in Gaza said it is committed to the success of the truce as long as it leads to ending the suffering of the people by fully lifting the siege on Gaza and reopening its crossings.