TEL AVIV, Israel – As part of truce negotiations with Israel, Hamas has demanded that its militants be granted a role in patrolling the Egypt-Gaza borders, Hamas’ chief political adviser in the Gaza Strip, Ahmed Yousef, told WND today in an exclusive interview.
The stated purpose of the future patrols, set to include international monitors, is to ensure against Hamas rearming in the territory.
Yousef said his group is “very close” to sealing a truce agreement with Israel but is waiting for the Israeli government’s final response on several issues.
Contradicting news media reports claiming Hamas is ready to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a truce arrangement, Yousef told WND his Islamist organization is demanding the issue of Shalit be separated from a cease-fire agreement and part of a different prisoner exchange deal to be reached in the future. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this past weekend stated Shalit’s freedom must be included in any truce deal.
“We already accepted Israeli proposals,” Yousef said. “The Israelis in their meeting tomorrow will decide the outcome of truce talks. We submitted all our positions and are ready for a cease-fire. We are very close to having an agreement” he said.
“Shalit must be separate from the truce and part of another deal to free Palestinian prisoners,” Yousef added.
Israel’s security cabinet, led by Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, are schedule to hold a session tomorrow to vote on a final truce deal with Hamas.
According to Yousef, Hamas is ready to accept a prolonged period of “calm” with Israel if the Jewish state opens all Israel-Gaza borders for trade and commerce. The opening of the borders would help endear Hamas to the local population and would likely boost Gaza’s cash-strapped economy.
Since Hamas in 2007 seized control of Gaza from the U.S.-backed Fatah party, Israel has imposed a tight closure on the territory with the exception of daily truckloads of humanitarian supplied. Israel also provides 75 percent of Gaza’s electricity, while Israeli banks ship monthly convoys of Israeli currency to the terrorist-controlled territory, infusing Gaza with cash which undoubtedly reaches Hamas.
U.S. to let Hamas patrol smuggling routes?
With regard to an Egypt-Gaza border arrangement, an official document being negotiated by the U.S., Israel, Egypt and other players currently grants Hamas a role in patrolling the Gaza Strip’s borders, according to an Egyptian intelligence official familiar with the draft document who spoke earlier this month to WND.
The document is set to be issued by Egypt, but the U.S., Israel and the European Union are heavily involved in the draft text, which would likely grant legitimacy to Hamas’ role in Gaza, as Yousef expects. Both the U.S. and EU officially classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.
“There is an understanding of all powers involved that Hamas must play a role, that without Hamas there can be no cross-border agreement,” the Egyptian intelligence official told WND. “So, yes, indirectly the U.S. and Israel admit that Hamas is a player and must be taken into consideration in any political arrangement.
“It will be an Egyptian paper. The U.S. and Israel can then say it’s just Egypt that recognizes Hamas, but this is not true,” the official said.
The document seeks to establish an international monitoring system to prevent Hamas from rearming along the Egypt-Gaza border. According to the Egyptian intelligence official, the monitoring contingent is set to include Egyptian and European monitors as well as representatives from Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party. Hamas has strenuously objected to any Israeli presence along the Egypt-Gaza border.
The Egyptian official said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently arrived in the Egyptian Sinai desert, which borders Gaza, bringing with them advanced machinery to aid Egyptian troops in detecting Hamas smuggling tunnels.
One of Israel’s main goals for its 22-day offensive that ended last month was to halt Hamas’ ability to smuggle weapons across the Egypt-Gaza border. Israel is negotiating an international monitoring mechanism it hopes will stop Hamas from smuggling weapons from neighboring Egypt into Gaza. But previous international monitors stationed along the Egypt-Gaza border fled their duty and repeatedly failed to stem Hamas’ weapons smuggling. The monitors were stationed at the border following Israel’s 2005 evacuation of the Gaza Strip.
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