By Xinhua
Gaza : Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip since mid-June, Wednesday slammed Israel for its declaring Gaza “enemy entity,” saying Israel has always considered the Palestinians as hostile people.
The remarks were made by Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, hours after the Israeli security cabinet declared the Hamas-ruled Stripa hostile political entity.
“This Israeli step is a clear indication of military escalation against Gaza,” Abu Zuhri said.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli cabinet made the decision following a legal examination on how to define the Strip in order to allow Israel to impose sanctions under international law, Israel’s popular daily Ha’aretz reported.
The declaration enables Israel to impose economic sanctions on the coastal enclave as a response to the rocket attacks against southern Israeli communities.
According to Ha’aretz, the ministers unanimously approved a number of sanctions against the Gaza Strip, including reducing the fuel supply up to a bare minimum, allowing in only enough fuel to power generators at Gaza hospitals.
Meanwhile, Taher al-Nounou, spokesman for the sacked Hamas government, said his government saw the Israeli move as “a collective punishment aimed at bowing down the Palestinian people.”
The decision was also meant to force the Palestinians to accept any resolution that may result from the U.S.-proposed November peace conference, said al-Nounou.
On July 16, U.S. President George W. Bush proposed to hold the international peace conference, which would include Israel, the Palestinians and some neighboring Arab states, to help resume the stalled Middle East peace talks.
The Hamas government, which runs Gaza despite being sacked b yPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on June 14, will make contacts with all involved sides to prevent this dangerous procedure from coming into being, al-Nounou added.
The Israeli cabinet’s decision came over one week after a Palestinian homemade Qassam rocket slammed into an Israeli army training camp in southern Israel, injuring about 69 Israeli conscripts.
It was the most serious incident in terms of casualty number resulting from a single Qassam rocket attack.
Both Saraya al-Quds, armed wing of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War), and Sallah el-Dein Brigades, armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), later claimed responsibility for the attack. In response to Israel’s decision, Jihad said the Israeli government “deprives the Palestinians from their simplest rights.”
Jihad leader Khaled al-Batsh urged the caretaker Palestinian government, based in the West Bank city Ramallah, to help Gaza Strip residents and work hard to secure good life for them.
The caretaker government was set up on June 17 after Abbassacked the Hamas-led government following Hamas’ violence take over of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian political analyst Walid al-Mudalal said the Israeli decision “makes Israel’s hands free to target the Gaza Strip in away that has never happened before.”
“The decision presumes that there is a war between two entities. It aims at launching a large offensive into the Gaza Strip and excepts Israel’s legal responsibility on Gaza,” al-Mudalal added.
Mohammed Omar, a 27-year-old governmental employee in Gaza, believed that the Israeli declaration was meant to “tighten the grip on Hamas in Gaza and encourage Gaza Palestinians to rise against it.”
“They want to push (Palestinian) people to blame Hamas for the situation in the Gaza Strip,” Omar added.