Egypt vows to provide more support to Gaza: Hamas official

Egypt has vowed to provide more support to the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip, a senior Hamas official said Wednesday.

During a weekly government meeting, Issam al-Daalis, who heads the government works department in Gaza said that "our Egyptian brothers promised us to speed up the implementation of Egyptian housing projects in the Strip."

In addition, al-Daalis said, the Egyptian authorities will allow medicines, equipment, and medical delegations specialized in cardiothoracic surgery and the specialities needed by the health sector into the besieged Gaza Strip.

Moreover, Egypt said it pledged to increase the number of Gazan travellers through the Rafah crossing, in light of the accumulation of about 22,000 Palestinians on waiting lists to travel, according to the official.

New wave of price increases hits besieged Gaza Striphttps://t.co/WuoBoA9K12 — The New Arab (@The_NewArab) June 7, 2022

The Egyptian pledges came as a result of positive consultations between a Hamas delegation who left Gaza on 27 May to meet Egyptian officials to discuss the political, security, and economic situations in Gaza, according to a source close to Hamas, who preferred to be unnamed.

The Gaza-Egypt meetings started two days ahead of the extremist Israeli "flag march" organized by Israeli settlers who stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on 29 May. The march also included "Death to Arabs" chants and insults on Prophet Mohammed, as well as attacks on Palestinians in the area.

"The Palestinian armed factions were ready to launch a barrage of missiles into Israeli settlements, including those in Jerusalem, in response to the unprecedented settlers' provocations," the source said to The New Arab.

However, Qatar and Egypt sponsored mediation between the two parties (Hamas and the Israeli government) ensuring that the situation did not get out of control and resulting in a new round of military conflict between the two parties.

"As a result of the success of Hamas and the resistance factions in controlling themselves and not firing missiles at Israeli towns, Egypt is going to provide more facilities," the source said.

The source added that Qatar informed Hamas that the Israeli government will increase the number of Gaza workers working in Israel to alleviate the economic crisis in the Strip, in return for continuing indirect negotiations between the two parties that may lead to a long-term calm.

"The resistance factions do not seek war (...), but they will not hesitate even for a moment to defend the people if Israel decides to launch a war on the Strip, or the settlers continue to persist in their violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalemites," the source stressed.

Palestinians call on Fatah and Hamas to unify to confront Israelhttps://t.co/V62dtdWyIE — The New Arab (@The_NewArab) May 31, 2022

In May 2021, Israel launched an 11-day military campaign on the Gaza Strip, following a barrage of rockets from Gaza, that was in turn fired in response to Israel's encroachment on the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site for Muslims.

During the fierce fighting, Israeli warplanes carried out hundreds of air raids on the Gaza Strip, home to over two million people, most of whom are refugees. Over 260 Palestinians were killed, and up to 2,000 were wounded.