Almost 10 years after imposed blockade, defense minister says Israel would like to ease humanitarian situation but not at expense of security
After nearly a decade-long ban, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said he did “not rule out” renewing work permits for Palestinian laborers from the Gaza Strip to work in Israel if the relative calm in the Hamas-run territory held.
After Hamas violently overthrew Fatah in the enclave in 2007, Israel scrapped all work-related travel documents allowing Gazans to enter Israel and the West Bank for employment.
In a Tuesday meeting with several mayors of Israeli towns adjacent to the Gaza border, Liberman said he “does not rule out renewing entry permits of workers from Gaza to Israel.”
“Israel, as much possible, would like to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, but not at the expense of security,” he said.
The work permits would be crucial to the economy of the impoverished Gaza Strip, which some international official say is on the brink of collapse after almost a decade of security blockades imposed by Israel and Egypt.
They were put in place to prevent Hamas, a terror group avowedly committed to the destruction of Israel, from importing weaponry into Gaza to use against Israel.
Liberman on Tuesday also noted remarks made earlier in the day by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said Israel was committed to improving the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip by laying a gas pipeline to the Palestinian territory with the assistance of the Dutch government.
The defense minister also assured the local mayors that any rocket fire from the Gaza Strip would be met with a harsh Israeli response.
As reported by The Times of Israel