By Xinhua,
Ramallah : Acting Prime Minister Sallam Fayyad said Tuesday that in order to make a truce with Israel successful, all the closed border crossing points in the Gaza Strip must reopen.
Fayyd told the Ramallah-based al-Ayyam Daily on Tuesday that reaching only a truce “is not enough,” adding “what is needed in order to end the blockade is to reopen all the closed crossings and terminals.”
After Islamic Hamas movement took control of the Gaza Strip nearly a year ago, Israel imposed a tightened blockade on the Gaza Strip and sealed of all crossing points, including Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.
However, Israel had only allowed basic food supplies and limited quantities of fuels after it termed the enclave ruled now by Hamas as “a hostile entity,” following an increase of makeshift rocket attacks from Gaza at Israel.
“We don’t beg a solution from Israel. There is an Israeli occupation…and we don’t negotiate with the Israelis only on easing measures, but what we want is to remove West Bank roadblocks and end Gaza blockade,” he continued.
He noted that “the issue is not an issue of removing a roadblock here or there, the issue is related first of all to stopping all settlements activities and second is to change the Israeli manner towards the Palestinians.”
Asked about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Fayyad said “it is impossible to agree on a truce in Gaza, while leaving one and a half million people imprisoned in the largest jail called the Gaza Strip.”
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman and presented them with Israel’s proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, a two-stage deal that would first include a cessation of military operations and terror activities and then a lifting of the siege over Gaza in exchange for the advancement in negotiations over the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.