[Ha'aretz] Zvi Bar'el - "Gaza is not occupied, so why should Israel have any role [at the Gaza-Egypt border crossing] when it has no presence on the border between Egypt and Gaza?" argued Mohammed Nuseir, a member of Hamas' political bureau, on Saturday. This is the first time an official Hamas representative has explicitly stated that Gaza is no longer occupied. At the same time, it puts Egypt in the difficult position of being Gaza's only outlet to the world - which means that it will also be held responsible for the Strip's economic plight. Egypt would be happy to serve as a shopping center for 1.5 million Gaza residents and provide them with services that could bring over $1.5 billion a year into its coffers. But it does not want to be responsible for security in Gaza. Its baseline position - that Gaza is occupied territory, and any solution to its problems is inseparable from a solution in the West Bank - remains unchanged.
2008-02-04 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive