Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh shakes hands with Hamas Deputy Chief Saleh al-Arouri,
Saleh al-Arouri, deputy leader of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, returned to Gaza Thursday after eight years of exile.
According to a press release from the administration of the Rafah Border Crossing, an Arouri-led delegation including leading group members Mousa Abu Marzouk, Izzat al-Rishq and Hussam Badran crossed the border into the Gaza Strip.
The delegation was welcomed by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and members of the group’s political bureau.
Arouri has been in exile since 2010.
His return to Gaza has been interpreted in Israeli and Palestinian media as "relevant to negotiations through third parties for a long-term agreement between Hamas and Israel".
A total of 155 people have been martyred by Israeli forces since Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip began holding regular demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone on Mar. 30, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.In a Thursday statement, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said that 23 children, three women and at least two medics had been among those killed.UN peacekeepers back on Golan HeightsAnother 17,000 Palestinians were injured over the same period -- more than 400 seriously -- by rubber bullets, heavy ammunition and bullet shrapnel, he added.According to al-Qidra, injuries included 3,279 children and 1,553 women, some of whom have had limbs amputated as a result of their wounds.Russia to deploy military police on Golan Heights between Syria, IsraelThe Israeli army faces mounting international criticism for its continued use of disproportionate force against unarmed Palestinian demonstrators.Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel. Israel marks launch of Jewish center in JerusalemThey also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of basic commodities.Video: 246 Palestinians injured in ongoing rallies in Gaza Strip
155 Palestine protesters killed by Israel since Mar. 30
Israel's Haaretz newspaper wrote that the Tel Aviv administration was "hopeful" about the talks.
The Yediot Ahronot newspaper noted that Israel has given assurances through Egypt that Tel Aviv, which has allowed Arouri’s entry into Gaza, would not target him with any attack.
Local media also reported that the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, has played an important role in the alleged Egypt-backed Hamas-Israeli talks.
Hamas delegation visits Egypt
On Monday, a Hamas delegation led by Arouri arrived in Cairo to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian political arena with Egyptian officials.
In a statement, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said it included Marzouk, Rishq and Badran as well as Khalil al-Hayya and Rawhi Mushtaha.
At least 769 Palestinians have been denied exit from the blockaded Gaza Strip by Israeli authorities since January, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday.The applicants included Palestinians who sought medical treatment for diseases such as cancer.According to Haaretz, Israeli authorities cited first-degree relations between the applicants and Hamas members for denying them exit from the seaside enclave.Last year, Israel denied exit to only 21 Gazans.Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade that continues to deprive its inhabitants of many essential commodities, including food, fuel, medicine and building materials.Israeli intelligence service has been exploiting exit permits to blackmail Palestinians for security information, while many others are being detained at Israeli access points despite holding permits.Palestinian Authority slams Israeli abuse of prisonersIsraeli court slaps Palestinian poet with jail term
Israel denies exit to hundreds of Gazans in 2018
Earlier Monday, al-Hayya and Mushtaha set out from the blockaded Gaza Strip for the Egyptian capital via the Rafah Border Crossing.
According to sources close to Hamas, the delegation has been in intensive negotiations with Egyptian intelligence in order to establish Palestinian national unity and a long-term ceasefire agreement between Israel and the resistance organizations in Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinian refugees staged a rally on Tuesday against recent moves by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to scale down its operations in the blockaded Gaza Strip.“Don’t leave us face hunger” and “Conspiracy won’t pass”, were among banners waved by protesters during the rally, organized by the Supreme National Commission for the Return and Breaking the Siege, an NGO, outside the agency's headquarters in Gaza City."UNRWA is taking many steps against the refugees, such as the scale-down of operations, refusing to hire new employees and cutting a large number of services,” Hussein Mansour, a member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), told protesters."These policies are in conjunction with Israeli plans to dissolve the [UNRWA] as a witness on the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe),” he said.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Last week, a UNRWA spokesman announced that the agency would not renew the contracts for more than 100 of its employees in Gaza.The agency has also terminated its mental health program, which had employed roughly 430 staff members, according to the employees’ union.“UNRWA administration has rejected all proposals presented by the agency’s staff union and Palestinian factions to solve the problem of employees,” Mansour said.He went on to warn the UN agency of escalating protests in the coming period “if it didn't retreat from its decision."Earlier this year, the U.S. suspended over half of the annual funding -- $65 million out of $125 million -- earmarked for the refugee agency.The fund reduction came shortly after Palestinian leaders rejected Washington’s role in the peace process in retaliation for last year’s U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Gaza refugees protest UNRWA's downsizing measures
Meanwhile, the cancelation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit to Colombia is believed to be related to the "developments in Gaza”, according to Israeli media, which referred to speculation that he needs to be available due to the possibility that there might be a breakthrough in talks between the Tel Aviv administration and Palestinian sides.
The Haaretz newspaper reported that Israel’s Security Cabinet is expected to meet Sunday to discuss a possible deal with Hamas.