Israel to aid Gaza rebuilding only if Hamas not involved: Olmert
20 Jan 2009 10:32 PM
JERUSALEM, Jan 20 AFP - Israel will cooperate with reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip only if the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas does not lead the process, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday.
"Israel believes that the reconstruction process must be led by international organisations in cooperation with the UN, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority," he told visiting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
"To the extent that this is the case, Israel will cooperate fully with the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip, out of concern for the innocent population," his office quoted him as saying.
"Hamas bears full responsibility for the devastation in the Gaza Strip and for attacks on innocents," he said.
"Hamas cannot, therefore, be allowed to lead the reconstruction process in the strip and thereby gain some measure of legitimacy."
Israel considers Hamas, which is pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state, a terror organisation.
It launched a massive campaign against the Islamists on December 27 in response to consistent rocket fire from the territory.
The 22-day war wreaked massive damage in the impoverished Palestinian enclave, killed more than 1,300 people and wounded more than 5,300 others, according to Gaza medics.
