EU initiative to Israel: Gaza reconstruction in exchange for Hamas disarmament
Israeli sources announced that Germany, France and Britain recently presented an initiative aimed at reconstructing Gaza subject to international supervision that will prevent the rearmament of Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip.
The principles for agreement about the Gaza Strip are:
- Preventing the armament and strengthening of Hamas and the rest of the terror organisations in Gaza.
- Rebuilding the Gaza Strip in cooperation with the international community and the Palestinian Authority and enabling the transfer of humanitarian aid.
- Setting up an international mechanism to prevent the entry of prohibited materials to the Strip and ensuring that materials, such as cement and iron, do not reach the terror organisations but are used only to rehabilitate Gaza.
- Returning the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas to the Gaza Strip.
- The possibility of returning the European Union’s Border Assistance Mission to the Rafah border crossing alongside the Palestinian presidential guard.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz today reported unnamed Israeli sources as saying that “the proposal by the three European states is an answer to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for the disarmament of Hamas.”
The sources pointed out that representatives from the three countries met in Jerusalem yesterday with Israeli national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, and handed him a two-page document of principles for international agreement about the Gaza Strip.
The document says that Germany, Britain and France are interested in reaching agreements with Israel and are considering turning these understandings into a binding decision that would be submitted to a vote at the UN Security Council.
The sources pointed out that “European diplomats told Israeli officials that the document is a proposal for discussion and open to changes.” Cohen said he was interested in working together to advance the proposal.
It was not possible to get immediate comments from representatives of France, Germany and Britain in the Palestinian territories regarding this initiative, nor from the Israeli side.
Since Hamas, which Israel considers a “terrorist organisation” won the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006; Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, where more than 1.8 million Palestinians live. This blockade was tightened after the group seized control of the territory in June of the following year.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
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