 |
 |
 |
|
|
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (file)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff August 9, 2007 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
Gaza is in dire financial straits and will soon be wholly dependent on foreign aid if the Hamas-controlled strip remains sealed off, the United Nations warned. However the money it received from Israel went to paying operatives of Hamas, a group responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Israel and that is sworn to destroying the Jewish state.
"The blockade has created a highly volatile situation, and the window of opportunity for addressing it is small and fast closing", said Filippo Grandi, the deputy head of UN Relief and Works Agency, the UN organ responsible for Palestinian refugees.
"Gaza risks becoming a virtually 100 percent aid dependent, closed down and isolated community within a matter of months or weeks, if the present regime of closure continues," Grandi said on Thursday
Following Hamas' bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip, Israel sealed the crossings into Israel, and Egypt followed suite. Still, the militant group managed to smuggle in hundreds of tons of weaponry.
"Failure to open the crossings will lead to disastrous consequences and an atmosphere of hopelessness and despair in which extremism is likely to take hold," the deputy head warned.
It appears that extremism has taken hold in the Gaza Strip unrelated to the financial crisis, as Hamas continues to launch rockets at Israeli cities along the Gaza Strip, and the militant group advocates terrorism against the Jewish state.
President Shimon Peres emphasized the need to expedite negotiations with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' rival who fled to the West Bank following the putsch and is currently trying to establish himself as a moderate force in the PA.
"Hamas is a fanatical religious organization that is impossible to hold dialogue with," Peres said, according to the Jerusalem Post, adding "and the world will not agree to fund its terrorist activities."
In related news, Palestinian media sources revealed on Wednesday that the PA Finance Ministry has recently paid several Hamas operatives' salaries with money Israel transferred to the PA, in violation of Israel's explicit opposition to funding Hamas with that money.
Reportedly 3,500 Hamas members received their salaries from the money Israeli transferred, Haaretz reported.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
