Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israeli Commits To Gaza Reconstruction In Hamas Ceasefire Deal

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel has committed to the reconstruction of Gaza and to discussing the possibility of airports and seaports in the Hamas-controlled coastal territory, Haaretz reported on Thursday.

Details have begun to emerge regarding these and other terms of the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. It’s implementation began Wednesday, closing out months of escalating tensions between the two sides.

According to senior Israeli officials who spoke to Haaretz, the deal includes six main clauses including “a comprehensive cease-fire; the reopening of Gaza’s border crossings and expansion of the permitted fishing zone; medical and humanitarian assistance; a resolution to the issue of captive soldiers, missing civilians and prisoners; a broad reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, with foreign funding; and discussions about sea and air ports in Gaza.”

The deal was approved by the cabinet with only Ministers Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett of the hardline Jewish Home party dissenting publicly.

Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Wednesday. According to Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, 17,854 tons of goods in 637 trucks have since entered the strip.

An Israeli source who spoke with Haaretz said that “there will be no real arrangement with Hamas without the return of our sons and civilians and a the promise of prolonged calm.”

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.