File Photo: Nickolay Mladenov (on screen) United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process briefs the U.N. Security Council from Jerusalem on the situation in the Middle East as the Council meets on Israel and Palestine at U.N. headquarters in New York, US.
UN peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov on Tuesday voiced concerns over Israel’s decision to impose fresh sanctions on the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“I’m concerned by the consequences of Israel’s decision to temporarily suspend imports and exports with the exception of basic humanitarian supplies through the Kerem Shalom crossing,” Mladenov said in a statement.
“Humanitarian assistance is no substitute for commerce and trade. I urge the authorities to reverse this decision,” he said.
Israel is closing the Gaza Strip's main commercial crossing in a crackdown against the Palestinian enclave's dominant Hamas , Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday."We will crack down immediately on the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. In a significant move, we will today shut down the Kerem Shalom (border) crossing. There will be additional steps. I am not detailing them," he told his parliamentary faction in broadcast remarks.
Israel says closing Gaza's main trade terminal in anti-Hamas crackdown
Any easing of the Gaza Strip’s humanitarian situation will depend on first resolving the issue of captured Israelis allegedly held by Gaza-based resistance groups, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel Today on Monday.Israel claims that Palestinian resistance group Hamas has been holding four Israelis -- two soldiers and two civilians -- in the Gaza Strip since 2014, when Israel carried out a devastating military onslaught against the Hamas-run coastal enclave.While Hamas has confirmed it is holding four captured Israelis, it has declined to provide any information -- in line with its longstanding policy of “strategic ambiguity” -- as to whether the captives are dead or alive.Hamas, meanwhile, demands the release of dozens of Palestinians who Israel re-arrested after having freed them earlier as part of an Egypt-brokered exchange deal in 2011 in which Gilad Shalit -- an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006 -- was also released.Israel Today also quoted an unnamed military official as suggesting that “a large humanitarian aid package” could soon be presented to the people of Gaza “provided the issue of missing persons is resolved”.The aid package, the official said, could include “the expansion of the fishing zone off the Gaza coast, the allowance of prohibited materials [into Gaza], and investment in infrastructure projects -- in Gaza’s electricity and water-purification sectors -- in line with earlier proposals by UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov and U.S. President Donald Trump”.Late last month, Israeli media reported that Israel was advancing plans to build a floating dock in Greek Cypriot administration to receive goods bound for Gaza.The plan was reportedly agreed to in principle during talks between Lieberman and Nicos Anastasiades, head of the Greek Cypriot administration.The Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its 2 million inhabitants of basic commodities.Since Mar. 30, more than 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army gunfire during ongoing rallies along the Gaza-Israel security fence to demand an end to Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land and 11-year blockade of Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister said Gaza aid contingent upon release of Israelis
On Monday, Israel imposed fresh sanctions on the Palestinian territory, including restrictions on the movement of goods and a reduction of the area off Gaza’s coast in which Palestinian fishermen are allowed to ply their trade.
According to a statement released by the Israeli army, the Kerem Shalom border crossing will be closed in response to “incendiary kite attacks” by Palestinian activists.
The military statement did not say how long the crossing -- which had served as Gaza’s only functioning commercial crossing -- would remain closed.
The UN envoy called on Palestinian group Hamas and other factions in Gaza to do their part by “maintaining calm, stopping incendiary kites and preventing other provocations”.
The UN “is continuing its engagement with Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, as well as regional and international partners, to reduce tensions, support intra-Palestinian reconciliation and resolve all humanitarian challenges,” Mladenov said.
In recent weeks, Palestinian activists have been flying incendiary kites and balloons over Israeli territory as part of ongoing popular demonstrations near the Gaza-Israel security fence.
Since the demonstrations began on March 30, at least 137 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.
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.
They 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 roughly two million inhabitants of basic commodities.