The five are Britain, Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. Their consul-generals met last week with senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official Alon Ushpiz to tell him of their approval. They specifically complimented Israel’s cooperation with the United Nations reconstruction apparatus, the fact that it doubled its water supply to Gaza, and the recent easing of export restrictions from Gaza.
COGAT – the Coordinator of [Israeli] Government Activities in the Territories – announced several days ago that Israel would double the amount of water it provides Gaza, given that a coastal aquifer it uses is becoming ineffective.
Meanwhile, Hamas continues to brag that it has successfully rebuilt military bases and is ready for war with Israel once again.
The five EU diplomats also met with Palestinian Authority representatives and told them off for not cooperating regarding efforts to rebuild Gaza. An unnamed European diplomat was quoted by Haaretz as saying, “The Israelis are removing hurdles and assisting reconstruction. At the same time, reconstruction is still stuck because of the internal fights on the Palestinian side, Egyptian behavior, and failure to deliver funds pledged by the Arab states.”
Just nine days ago, Nicholas Kristof – who writes a twice-weekly column in The New York Times – sharply criticized Israel in a Times op-ed. “Israel sustains a siege that amounts to economic warfare on an entire population,” he wrote, ignoring developments such as: allowing 45 tractors into Gaza for farmers, as well as 50 trucks and 15 buses; allowing 5,000 merchants (up from 3,000) to cross out of Gaza per month; permitting 56,000 tons of construction materials into Gaza; and more.
The ambassadors of the same five EU member states also met with Ushpiz four months ago, criticizing Israel’s policy of occasionally demolishing the homes of Palestinian Arab terrorists. They voiced this opinion the same week that terrorists attacked a synagogue in Har Nof, Jerusalem, and murdered four worshipers.
Even as Israel aids in rebuilding Gaza, the military wing of Hamas said over the weekend that it had rebuilt a number of military bases near the Israeli border. The terrorist group currently governing Gaza asserted that it had “recovered” from Israel’s summer offensive and was “not afraid” of confronting Israel again.
“No sooner has the war come to an end, than the al-Qassam Brigades started a new stage of the conflict in preparation for the battle of liberation,” according to a report on the official website of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
