Will Israel, Turkey decide the fate of Gaza?
Reports on a possible Israeli-Turkish agreement on the construction of a floating harbor off the Gaza Strip and that would be served from Turkish Cyprus rekindled internal Palestinian wrangling between Fatah and Hamas.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hamas leaders on Feb. 25 announced significant progress on Israeli-Turkish reconciliation negotiations, especially on a proposed floating harbor off the Gaza Strip. The negotiations have inspired optimism in the Hamas movement, but the harbor proposal evokes quite a different reaction from the Palestinian Authority (PA).
On Feb. 29, the Israeli Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said a joint Turkish-Israeli statement would be issued about the offshore harbor within days. The news angered the Fatah-controlled PA, which governs the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. However, a statement has yet to be issued as negotiations continue.
The PA rejects the negotiations between Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s representative Joseph Ciechanover and acting Israeli National Security adviser Jacob Nagel.
The negotiations are designed to finalize a reconciliation agreement between the two countries, whose relationship deteriorated when the Israeli army attacked the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship off the coast of the Gaza Strip in 2010.
