Egypt works to reduce violence in Gaza

EGYPT is desperately trying to prevent another round of violence between Gaza and Israel as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip continues to deteriorate and flashpoint violence erupts.

On Tuesday, a delegation of senior Egyptian intelligence officials arrived in the Gaza Strip to meet senior Hamas leaders in an attempt to ease tension along the border with Israel and reinforce a previous understanding between Hamas and Israel about restoring calm.

Hamas has been organising weekly protests, known as the Great March of Return, along the border with Israel in an effort to pressure Israel and Egypt to lift their joint blockade of the coastal territory which has exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation prevailing there.

Most of the protesters are relatively peaceful with some throwing stones.

However, the protests have also involved incendiary balloons being flown into Israel and burning large swathes of agricultural areas.

During clashes with Israeli security forces more than 200 Palestinians have been killed and many more wounded since the March of Return began in March last year. Cairo has been acting as a mediator, travelling between Jerusalem and Gaza city in an effort to circumvent another war between Hamas and Israel.

Several previous rounds over the years left more than a thousand Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead while injuring thousands more.

A much smaller number of Israelis were also killed and wounded.

Following Cairo’s intervention the border had quietened down for several months, but is now flaring up again as the first year anniversary of the Great March of Return approaches.

And once again incendiary balloons are being flown into Israel, which is responding by carrying out bombings on Hamas targets.

Gaza’s leaders say Israel has not kept its side of the deal for restoring calm by easing the blockade and has warned that it will take further action. Israel simultaneously is not willing to sit idly by as its land burns and airborne explosive devices land in Israeli communities near the border.

There are other elements adding fuel to a potential Gaza explosion. These include several months of Qatari government aid to poor Gaza amounting to millions of dollars ceasing in April.