Hamas warns of war with Israel if Gaza reconstruction obstructed

Xinhua

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The armed wing of Islamic Hamas movement warned on Thursday of another war with Israel, in case the process of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip is kept obstructed.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas armed wing, made the warning during a ceremony to reward families whose children were killed during the July Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

"We tell all parties that obstructing reconstruction in the Gaza Strip will be a new blow fuses and the enemy (Israel) will be fully responsible for a big explosion because it is the only responsible for this obstruction," he said.

On July 8, Israel waged a large-scale air and ground military offensive on the Gaza Strip that lasted for 50 days, leaving more than 2,000 Palestinians and 70 Israelis killed and more than 11, 000 wounded.

The Israeli offensive stopped after Egypt brokered a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas-led militants. Israel agreed to ease the blockade on the enclave and facilitate the entrance of materials for reconstruction.

"Keeping the blockade imposed shows that the enemy is not respecting the cease-fire. The basic demands, after the war on Gaza had ended, were the opening of the closed crossings, mainly Rafah crossing with Egypt," he said.

On Oct. 12, donors held a two-day conference in Cairo and pledged 5.4 billion U.S. dollars to construct tens of thousands of houses that were destroyed during the Israeli military offensive.

Since the end of the offensive, the flow of raw materials for constructions into the enclave has faced obstructions from time to time, although the UN agreed with Israel on the mechanism of allowing construction materials into Gaza. Enditem