Gaza seeks other vital supplies sources

Hamas leader, Ismail Haniya
Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:20:35

Ismail Haniya has said Hamas would like Gaza to cut off its economic ties with Israel and instead receive fuel and electricity from Egypt
The comments by the head of Gaza's Hamas government, Ismail Haniya, came amid efforts by Hamas to persuade Egypt not to reseal the Gaza-Egypt border, breached by Hamas fighters on January 23.
"We have said from the days of our election campaign that we want to move towardeconomic disengagement from the Israeli occupation,'' Haniyeh told the pro-Hamas daily Palestine, adding, "Egypt has a greater ability to meet the needs of Gaza.''
A former advisor to Ismail Haniya, Ahmed Yousef, said the plan of economic disconnection from the Zionist regime would push for an end to the enclave's 40 years of contact with, and dependency on, Israel, by tightening ties with "Arab and Islamic countries".
Yousef also said Hamas "insists on having a role in the management" of the Gaza Strip's southern Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
On Jan. 23, following the Zionist regime's siege of the Gaza Strip which led to a humanitarian crisis, resistance forces blew up the fences at the Rafah crossing, allowing hundreds of thousands of Gazans to enter the Egyptian side to stock up on food, fuel and other basic necessities.
MSH/GM presstv