The Government of Benjamin Netanyahu warned this Tuesday that it will not negotiate with the Palestinians if Hamas, which has just signed a reconciliation agreement with the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, does not disarm and recognise Israel. Among other conditions for the resumption of dialogue, the executive led by the Conservative prime Minister demands that the Islamists cede security control within the fringe and borders.
Netanyahu said he will not recognize the pact that was closed last Thursday in Cairo between Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian nationalist Party, President Abbas, although it will remain in force in relations with the Palestinian Authority. The agreement aims to put an end to a decade of Palestinian political division after the takeover of power by Islamists in the coastal enclave. The blockade imposed by Israel, reinforced by the closure of the border with Egypt, and the recent economic pressures ordered by the Palestinian president have generated a serious humanitarian crisis in recent months in the Gaza Strip.
The conditions raised by the Israeli Government following the Interpalestinian agreement may add difficulties to the initiative announced by the administration of President Donald Trump to re-establish peace negotiations between the two parties, which remained Interrupted in April 2004. The United States has shown favorable to the sealing by Hamas and Fatah with the mediation of Egypt.
“The government will not enter into negotiations with a Palestinian government supported by Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel until the following conditions are met,” the communiqué circulated by the Cabinet of the first Minister. Both the US and the EU include the Palestinian Islamist movement in their lists of terrorist groups.
In addition to the disarming of its 25,000 militiamen, the cessation of their terrorist activities and the recognition of Israel, Netanyahu demands that Hamas return the corpses of two Israeli soldiers killed during the 2014 summer War and free three citizens Israelis with mental disorders who were admitted to Gaza.
The Government of the Hebrew state also insists that the Palestinian Authority should take control of the border crossings to prevent arms smuggling, and that Hamas will break its ties with Iran. Israel considers that the funds and humanitarian aid teams for the population of Gaza should be managed exclusively by the Palestinian executive.
Despite the reconciliation agreement, Israel has pledged to maintain cooperation with the Palestinian Authority precisely to allow Palestinian security forces to deploy within the enclave and at border posts. Israeli leaders also urge branch authorities to reinforce the persecution of Hamas’s “terrorist structures” in the West Bank.
