Israel asked Egypt to ease restrictions imposed on Gaza Strip

The Israeli magazine Weekends, which is affiliated to the Hebrew web site Walla, has reported that after the military coup in Egypt, Israel asked the interim authorities in Egypt to ease the restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip that were introduced in order to punish the government in Gaza run by Hamas.

In a lengthy report about the situation in the Gaza Strip, the magazine called the Israeli request “ironic”, describing how Israeli officials have tried in recent weeks to convince officials in Cairo not to impose a tighter siege on Gaza and to alleviate the restrictions and measures taken by the Egyptian authorities, due to Israel’s fear that this would lead to disturbances and a new round of violence between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli journalist Avi Sakharov, who wrote the report, pointed out that Israel’s security establishment is not interested in another battle with Hamas, which also does not want to enter into a military confrontation with Israel because it could lead to a massive operation in Gaza.

According to Sakharov, Israel believes that the Egyptian army’s intensive operations on the borders of Gaza and the demolition of tunnels raise new concerns that Hamas may seek a military escalation in order to force Egypt to open a commercial crossing.

Source: Jerusalem – Quds Net News Agency