Mediators forge deal in latest volleys between Hamas, Israel
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Hamas rulers said Monday that they reached an agreement through international mediators to end the latest round of cross-border violence with Israel.
Under the deal, Hamas is to halt the launches of explosives-laden balloons and rocket fire into Israel, while Israel said it will ease a blockade that has been tightened in recent weeks. The Israeli restrictions have worsened living conditions in Gaza at a time when it is coping with a new coronavirus outbreak.
As a result of indirect mediation efforts led by Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar, Hamas said “several projects will be announced to serve our people in Gaza Strip and contribute in mitigating” difficult living conditions.
Its statement didn’t detail any of the projects, but it said conditions would return to “what they were before the escalation.”
Under previous, unofficial understandings reached through intermediaries, Hamas has sought a broader easing of restrictions on movement, increased power supplies from Israel and large-scale economic projects to help lower unemployment hovering around 50 percent. It accuses Israel of moving too slowly or not honoring its commitments.
COGAT, an Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, announced late Monday that it would immediately reopen Gaza’s only cargo crossing and resume fuel shipments into the territory. It also said it would reopen a 15-mile fishing zone off Gaza’s coast.
In recent weeks, pro-hamas groups have launched scores of incendiary balloons, torching wide tracts of Israeli farmland. Militant groups have also fired several barrages of rockets into Israel.
Israel has responded with tank fire and airstrikes on militant targets, while closing Gaza’s only cargo crossing, cutting off fuel supplies to the territory’s only power plant, and halting access to fishing waters. Residents had been left with just four hours of electricity a day during the sweltering summer.
Last week’s detection of the first cases of locally transmitted coronavirus in Gaza has worsened the situation, with Hamas imposing a week-long renewable lockdown.