The factions in the Gaza Strip will meet on Monday night to decide on their response following what they call “Israel’s evasion of the agreements that led to the end of Operation Guardian of the Walls.”
The factions in Gaza set an ultimatum to Israel demanding that Israel open the crossings into Gaza and transfer funds from Qatar by Monday night, or they will start another war of attrition.
The factions say that Israel is preventing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the transfer of Qatari funds to put pressure on them.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas figure, said over the weekend that the organization will not give Israel more time and it must meet its obligations.
Sources in Gaza estimate that the factions will decide to renew the riots on the border and expand the launching of the arson balloons as part of the decision to expand the “popular resistance.”
The factions in the Gaza Strip say that the concessions announced by the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), including entry permits for 1,000 traders from the Gaza Strip to Israel, are also meaningless and are intended to allow Israel to evade the demands made by them.
Sources in Hamas say the organization is determined to restore the civilian situation in the Gaza Strip as it was on May 9, on the eve of Operation Guardian of the Walls.
Hamas also claims that the Palestinian Authority is deliberately working to delay the transfer of the Qatari grant to Gaza, although the PA’s Minister of Social Development claims that it is working to ensure that no entity will be harmed by any possible lawsuits following the Terrorist Financing Law.
Various sources report that the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip are deteriorating and that Israel still allows only a partial opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing and only allows fishing within a space of 12 nautical miles.
The mediation efforts are continuing, mainly through Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
A Hamas spokesman told the media Saturday that “the siege policy on the Gaza Strip is unacceptable and the conditions in the Gaza Strip are difficult, so Hamas will not be able to restrain itself and Israel will be held accountable.”