In three high-level meetings this week, Israel has insisted on linking the rehabilitation of Gaza with the return by Hamas of the remains of two soldiers and the release of two captives.
President Reuven Rivlin raised the matter with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday in New York and with US President Joe Biden on Monday in Washington.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett raised the matter during his first phone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi since taking office earlier this month.
Egypt and the United Nations are attempting to broker a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The UN is the primary institution tasked with organizing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and it is also working on a mechanism to allow for aid to be sent to Gaza that would prevent Hamas from diverting material and funds to constructing weapons.
“We are interested in continuing to work with the UN to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, with whom we have no conflict,” Rivlin told Guterres.
“However, any agreement should include steps to return our soldiers and citizens, who are held by Hamas, a terrorist organization,” he added.
At issue are the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, presumed to have been killed during the 2014 Gaza war, and the fate of two Israeli citizens, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who crossed into Gaza in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Leah Goldin, Hadar’s mother, joined Rivlin for his meeting with Guterres and spoke with the secretary-general about her son.
Guterres’s office did not publicize any comments from the meeting, and the White House did not mention the soldiers and captives in its readout of the conversation, although it did speak generally of Gaza.
“The leaders also discussed recent developments in Gaza and the West Bank, and the president emphasized the importance of Israel taking steps to ensure calm, stability, and to support greater economic opportunities for the Palestinian people,” the White House said in a statement.
On Monday, Leah Goldin met with US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and asked her to work to secure the release of the captives.
“It was an honor to meet with Dr. Leah Goldin, whose son Hadar was killed by Hamas militants nearly seven years ago,” Thomas-Greenfield tweeted after the meeting.
“The US will continue to advocate for the return of Israeli soldiers killed in action in Gaza, as well as the return of Israeli civilians held captive there,” she said.
In the aftermath of the 11-day Gaza war in May, Israel renewed its efforts to secure the release of the soldiers and captives. Prior to the war, it had not made such a linkage between Gaza reconstruction and the hostages.
Gaza has only three crossing points: one with Egypt at Rafah and two with Israel, its main commercial gateway at Kerem Shalom and a pedestrian one at Erez.
Israel shut both of the crossings during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May and has not fully reopened them.
Preventing full reopening has been the problem of how to handle dual-use items for reconstruction and fuel for the power plant, which produces Gaza electricity. Only on Sunday did Israel allow fuel to enter the Gaza Strip.
Qatar funded the fuel. Prior to the war, it provided Hamas in Gaza with cash payments, which have not been resumed, due in part to Israeli fears that Hamas would use the funds to rearm for future attacks against Israel.
Qatari funds were still prohibited from entering Gaza, a security source told The Jerusalem Post.
When quizzed about Gaza on Monday at the noon press briefing in New York, Guterres’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said: “I would like to see reconstruction start as quickly as possible. I think the start of the fuel deliveries that we saw today and are expecting again tomorrow are a positive sign, in the sense that ensuring that the Gaza power plant has electricity to function is sort of the backbone, in a sense, of any reconstruction.”
“My understanding is that eight trucks with fuel went through today; sixty trucks are expected this week,” he said. “The power plant uses fuel for electricity. The average daily amount of electricity currently generated by the Gaza power plant is about 60% to 70% of the amount generated before the latest conflict.
“We understand a third turbine was turned on a bit earlier today, about 1 p.m. local time, with total electricity supplies from the power plant and other sources now returning to about 14 hours a day. That’s up just recently from about 11 to 12 hours a day,” Dujarric said.