Gaza City, June 17: Hamas on Thursday dismissed an Israeli plan to ease the land blockade of the Gaza enclave as a PR stunt and called for the complete lifting of all restrictions.
“We in Hamas reject the Zionist decision, which is an attempt to obscure the international decision to completely lift the siege on the Gaza Strip,” senior Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said.
“This is just an attempt to relieve the pressure… and to continue the siege of Gaza,” he added.
“We demand the complete lifting of the Gaza siege so that all goods are allowed in and there is total freedom of movement without any interference from the Zionist enemy,” he said.
Israel’s security cabinet on Thursday approved a plan to “liberalise” the system whereby civilian goods enter the impoverished territory and to allow more materials in for internationally supervised construction projects.
The move came in response to mounting calls to lift the four-year blockade of Gaza in the wake of the botched May 31 seizure of an aid fleet in which Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists.
Jordan wants complete lifting of Gaza blockade
Jordan said on Thursday that Israel’s plan to ease its blockade was not enough and urged a complete lifting of all restrictions.
Jordan “wants Israel to completely lift this unjust blockade,” the kingdom’s information minister and government spokesman, Nabil Sharif, said at a news conference.
“Any decision to ease the pressure on Gaza is a step in the right direction, but the Israeli plan is not enough. Cosmetic measures do not solve problems,” he said.
But it also stressed that Israel, which has a 1994 peace treaty with Jordan, would “continue existing security procedures to prevent the inflow of weapons and war materiel.”
France says Israel plan ‘not enough’
France on Thursday said Israel’s decision Thursday to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip was a sign of “progress” but did not go far enough.
“It is the first major progress since the crisis began. But it is not enough,” Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters.
“If one day the blockade can be fully lifted, then we will be very happy,” he added.
–Agencies