HAMAS: GAZA SIEGE DOES NOT IMPROVE ISRAEL’S SECURITY

Gaza, 4 Safar 1436/26 November 2014 (MINA) – Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas affirmed that maintaining the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip does not afford security to the Israeli occupation.

In a statement, Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said,”Anyone who thinks that the siege of the Gaza Strip, causing famine to its people, will afford security to the Israeli occupation is misguided,” Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Wednesday.

He added,”There are several sides taking part in the siege of Gaza along with the Israeli occupation. Their aim is to provide security for the occupation.”

Barhoum did not name any of these sides, but called on them to reread the history of the region to “understand the equation of the area very well”.

The Hamas spokesperson warned that those helping the Israeli occupation tighten the blockade would one day “pay the price” and be “burnt by the fire of resistance”.

The Israeli occupation has been imposing a strict siege of the Gaza Strip since mid-2007 after Hamas swept rival Fatah – supported by Israel and the West – out of the enclave.

Since then, Israel has waged three brutal wars in the Gaza Strip that claimed the lives of around 4,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 16,000 others. That last war lasted for 51 days and ended on 26 August. However, the siege is still in effect despite international calls to lift it.(T/P008/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)