Report: Israel-Hamas ceasefire includes easing of blockade, work permits
Al Akhbar newspaper is known to be affiliated with Hamas.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIUpdated: NOVEMBER 3, 2018 18:32A handout picture provided by the PPO shows Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on May 9, 2016(photo credit: AFP PHOTO / PPO / THAER GHANAIM)
The draft of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egyptian intelligence, was published by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar Saturday according to a report in The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Maariv.The agreement includes a series of stages, to be put into place over the course of the next year, in which will act to remove 70% of the Israeli blockade on Gaza until the weekly violent marches along the Israel-Gaza border stop entirely.According to the Al-Akhbar report, the entry points to Gaza will be regularly open and 5,000 Gazan Palestinians under the age of 40 will be given work permits in Israel.In addition, the permitted fishing zone from Gaza will be extended to 14 miles, the Palestinian Authority will pay 80% of salaries for public sector workers in Gaza, and energy and infrastructure projects will be launched that will aim to employ 30,000 unemployed academics.Khalil al-Hayya, a senior member of Hamas, said that "the efforts to break the blockade are close to success."The report emphasized that only after three successful years of the agreement, with close supervision by Russia and the United Nations, Egypt will take steps towards a prisoner exchange.Al Akhbar is known to be affiliated with Hamas.The agreement was released on the same day that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi. The two discussed cooperation between Egypt and Palestine.Maariv contributed to this report.
