Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman declared, in an address to the annual Herzliya Conference, that a final status agreement with the Palestinians was not viable as part of bilateral relations, but must be achieved through a regional agreement, which would end the Arab-Israeli conflict and normalize relations between Jerusalem and the moderate camp of the Sunni-Muslim world.
“first of all a regional agreement, only then an agreement with the Palestinians. Anyone who tries to condition, to take us hostages, to resolve the Palestinian issue, will bring us to a dead end, to a deadlock, we won’t get out of it. We will never be able, in the confines of a bilateral agreement, to reach the of the conflict. If we want to reach the end of the conflict, if we want to achieve an agreement we have to reach agreements with all the moderate Sunni countries, and only then, as a byproduct, it can be an agreement with the Palestinians,” said Lieberman.
Also in his address, the Israeli top defense official accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of increasing pressure on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, not only with the aim of damaging his Islamist Palestinian rivals, but also in an attempt to “drag Hamas to war with Israel,” as “the situation in Gaza cannot last forever.”
“Look, this crisis is an inner Palestinian crisis, I don’t think we need to force ourselves into it, this crisis will not be resolved, Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) didn’t order a onetime (electricity) reduction, for the time being he aims to continue reductions in the upcoming months, and eventually stop payments altogether even for the fuel, the drugs, paychecks and many other things. Therefore, this is not a onetime tactical reduction of funds for fuels and energy to the Gaza Strip. This is a strategy, in my eyes a double strategy to hurt Hamas as well as forcing Hamas to a conflict with Israel,” Added Lieberman.
Despite the fact that Israel acceded to the Palestinian Authority’s request to cut the electricity it supplies to the Gaza Strip, so as not to interfere in the domestic Palestinian rivalries that would undermine President Mahmoud Abbas’s standing; behind the scenes Jerusalem has made every effort to ensure that the crisis in Gaza does not worsen further.
Israeli officials told TV7 that a deterioration in Gaza is liable to prompt Hamas to escalate violence against Israel and could lead to a full-scale military conflagration, a reality that neither Hamas nor Israel are interested in. That is why Israel reportedly held secret talks with Egypt, urging it to come to Gaza’s assistance.
Following Israel’s request, Egypt transported some 22 diesel tankers into Gaza. Cairo’s decision to deliver the Palestinian enclave with fuel, a sign of improved relations between Hamas and Egypt after years of friction, was the first official import of Egyptian diesel to Gaza since Hamas took over the enclave in 2007 and could provide seven hours of power for three days.
“Today we are receiving this first shipment of fuel which will go to the power plant, and this shipment will supply the power plant with fuel so that our people in Gaza can have electricity. It is tough when they (our people) are cut-off from electricity for a long time, partly due to the directions of the (Palestinian) Authority in Ramallah and in part because of the policy of the high tax on fuel,” said Tawfiq Nuaimi, Chief of Hamas’ Internal Security.
According to reports, the fuel to the Hamas-run territory came after the Islamist group acceded to several security related demands by Egypt, including to provide Egyptian Authorities with information on all tunnels the Palestinian groups operates on the border with Egypt, extradite several wanted Palestinians for alleged affiliation to terror related activities on Egyptian soil and to increase the spectrum of intelligence sharing the internationally recognized terror group has with their Egyptian counterparts.