Abbas refuses Israel proposal to end humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Yoav Mordechai, claimed that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas had refused a proposal to end the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Reporting Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Quds Press said the paper said that Mordechai had proposed an initiative based on mobilising a number of countries ready to carry out infrastructure projects in Gaza in the field of water, sewage and electricity.

According to the Israeli newspaper, the proposal aimed to funnel money to the besieged Gaza Strip that could find solutions for jobs and help setup a small fund.

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The paper went on to warn that tensions with the Gaza Strip are expected to heighten as Nakba Day nears; adding that this is an “unavoidable fate”.

“The Israeli defence ministry is preparing to deal with the day,” the paper said, noting that the ministry is readying itself for two outcomes.

The first would see larges losses on the Palestinian side and may lead to a new war on Gaza, the paper explained. The second is a political and economic initiative to be proposed that would afford a solution for the siege.

Gaza has been under an 11-year Israeli siege during which it underwent three destructive Israeli offensives that destroyed most of the infrastructure in the enclave. As a result the area has the world’s highest unemployment rates.