By Anees Barghouthy
JERUSALEM
Palestinian Prime Minster Rami Hamdallah met with a senior Israeli official on Tuesday to discuss the rehabilitation of the devastated Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper reported Wednesday.
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a Palestinian official as confirming that Hamdallah had met with the Israeli official on Tuesday evening, with whom he had discussed means of facilitating relief assistance for residents of the Gaza Strip.
One of the main points discussed at the meeting was the need to allow the export of goods from Gaza to the West Bank and issue permits to allow Gazan students to attend universities in the West Bank and abroad.
The newspaper also noted that both sides had agreed to open the border crossings between Israel and Gaza for 200 days per year and allow children under 16, grandfathers and grandmothers from Gaza to visit their relatives in the West Bank.
A senior Israeli official confirmed that the goal of the meeting was to consolidate a cease-fire agreement – signed in late August between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza – in coordination with the Palestinian Authority.
He said the meeting did not tackle the stalled peace process between the two sides.
"The goal is to make sure that there is oversight about what is happening in Gaza and that can be done either with the U.N. or the Palestinian Authority," the senior Israeli official said.
"For the Palestinian Authority to do that, we need to coordinate our moves and change the situation on the ground for regular Gazans. The goal is to solidify the cease-fire," he added.
On July 7, Israel launched a seven-week military offensive against Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of halting rocket fire from the coastal enclave.
Over the course of the 51-day onslaught, more than 2,150 Palestinians were killed – mostly civilians – and nearly 11,000 injured, while thousands of homes across the territory were damaged or destroyed.
Over the same period, at least 73 Israelis – 68 soldiers and five civilians – were killed by Palestinian fighters or rocket fire.
The offensive finally ended on August 26 with an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire deal that was celebrated by resistance faction Hamas as a strategic victory.
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