Israel General calls to change policy with Hamas in Gaza

Former commander of the Gaza Division Brigadier-General Eyal Eisenberg has said Israel should change the way it deals with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, General Eisenberg said “the expected facilitations for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will not change anything. We reached a dead end years ago. Therefore we need a fundamental change in the rules of the game as well as the players”.

According to the general, returning the bodies of two Israeli soldiers and an Israeli citizen from the Gaza Strip must be the basis for any future dialogue.

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“I do not think that we will see any change at the moment and therefore we must show more resolve, because in the end we are facing Hamas, the hostile organisation that does not recognise Israel”, he said adding that any facilitations or changes in the nature of the humanitarian situation in Gaza will not change the nature of the difficult reality there.

“Under the current circumstances, and with the same tools used by Israel towards Gaza, it is as if we are giving a cancer patient a pain killer. What is needed is a fundamental change in the rules of the game as well as the players, in order to make dialogue and achieve progress although Hamas still does not see things this way” he said.

The general added that returning the Israeli soldiers from Gaza must be a priority for Israel on a daily basis and a condition for any discussion:

“If Hamas is interested in facilities in Gaza, it should know that the issue of prisoners and missing persons is a basic condition”, he said.