Israeli minister of military affairs, Beni Gantz, has claimed Tel Aviv readiness to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.
Benny Gantz said on Monday that Tel Aviv is ready to engage in talks with Palestinian group with the aim of “improving conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip.”
He made the remarks in a meeting with the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
Later in the day, Gantz tweeted that Israel is prepared “to arrive at a solution and contribute to improved conditions for the residents of Gaza” provided an understanding is reached that includes the release of Israeli soldiers detained by Hamas.
I stressed that the State of Israel is prepared to arrive at a solution and contribute to improved conditions for the residents of Gaza, if we can arrive at an understanding on long-term quiet and to the return of our boys.
— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe)
November 23, 2020
The Israeli minister's comments came just two days after the regime's jet fighters launched air raids against eastern Beit Hanoun in the north of the besieged Gaza Strip.
An observation post belonging to the Gaza-based resistance movement of Hamas, located in Beit Hanoun’s An-Nayema street, was apparently targeted in the Israeli attacks on Saturday night.
The Israeli military has bombed Gaza almost daily since August 6 in what it says is a response to the airborne incendiary devices and rockets launched from the blockaded coastal sliver into the occupied lands.
The fire balloons are widely seen as an attempt by Hamas to improve the terms of an informal truce, under which Israel committed to easing its 13-year-old crippling siege of the Gaza Strip.
So far, however, Israel has tightened the blockade, banned Palestinian fishermen from going to sea, and closed a key crossing with the territory, prompting the closure of Gaza’s sole power plant for want of fuel.
The Gaza Strip suffers from an acute shortage of food and medical supplies plus extreme unemployment compounded by a severe electricity crisis as a result of the Israeli blockade imposed on it since 2007.
Israel and Hamas had earlier reached a ceasefire deal, brokered by Qatar, in late August.
While the Israeli minister talks of a deal with Hamas, the Palestinian group has repeatedly condemned ongoing efforts -- in the Arab world -- to normalize relations with the Israeli regime.
On Monday, the group denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s secret flight to Saudi Arabia, where he reportedly met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling the move an “insult” to the Palestinian cause.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri described the Israeli premier's meeting, which was reportedly held in Neom on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, as “dangerous” and urged Saudi authorities to “clarify what happened because this represents an insult to the nation and the squandering of Palestinian rights.”
Israel has launched three major wars against the enclave since 2008, killing thousands of Gazans each time and shattering the impoverished territory’s already poor infrastructure.
The blockade has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty in the Gaza Strip.
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