Israel: Salaries, Qatari oil in return for calm in Gaza

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan has said that there are ongoing efforts to reach a deal to pass Qatari money and oil to the besieged Gaza Strip in return for calm as part of the Egypt-brokered deal.

Citing Kan, Al-Wattan Voice reported on Friday that an unnamed senior Egyptian official had revealed that Israel would only pass the Qatari aid and oil to Gaza if it was able to monitor them to ensure they would not end up in the hands of “terrorists”.

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Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 14 reported a senior Israeli political source as saying that an agreement to ease the humanitarian situation in Gaza must be reached soon. “We succeeded in reaching a temporary solution for the salaries and oil,” the political source said, noting that it was very difficult to reach this agreement.

The source added that “if the situation [in Gaza] exploded again, we are ready to use a massive deterrence power.”