A senior Hamas member trying to return to
Gaza Thursday after talks with Egyptian mediators was turned back at the Rafah
crossing by border guards who found cash in his bags totalling nearly 12
million dollars, dpa reported.
But Senior Hamas member Ayman Taha was allowed back into the strip late
Thursday after Egyptian authorities insisted he put the money in a bank in the
north Sinai town of Arish, al-Arabiya news channel reported.
Border guards found the cash - 9 million dollars and 2 million euros (2.6
million dollars) - as they searched the six-member Hamas delegation, who were
in Cairo for talks with Egyptian mediators about the proposed long-term truce
with Israel.
The rest of the members were allowed to pass.
Egyptian authorities reassured Taha that he can collect the money at another
time.
He declined to tell al-Arabiya about the source of the money, saying:
"This is not the question we should ask. We should rather ask how much
longer we will be carrying money in bags?"
"Isn't it time to open the borders and lift the siege?" Taha told the
Dubai-based news channel in a phone interview shortly after he passed the
border into Gaza.
The Palestinian territory has a shortage of cash caused by the Israeli blockade
and other sanctions.
Israel complains that Hamas smuggles money and weapons through Egypt into the Gaza Strip.
"I was just carrying the money for the Palestinian people who suffered
from the war and the siege," Taha said.
Earlier Thursday, Israel gave the go-ahead for a cash delivery into the Gaza
Strip for the first time since its recent military offensive against Gaza, Israeli media reports said.
The reports said 175 million shekels (42 million dollars) would be transferred
from the West Bank to banks in the Gaza Strip in order to pay around 70,000
employees of the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas.
Gaza is still recovering from the 22-day offensive by Israel which ended last month and left at least 1,400 Palestinians dead.
Hamas members are due to return to Cairo on Saturday to give their final
response to the Egyptian proposal. Egypt had originally set Thursday as the
deadline for Hamas to agree to a truce in Gaza, yet on Thursday morning Hamas
announced talks will resume on Saturday.
Hamas was seeking clarification from the Israelis on questions regarding the
opening of border crossings into the Gaza Strip.
Also on Thursday, chief Israeli negotiator Amos Gilad left Cairo after a
few-hours visit for high-level talks with Egyptian officials concerning the
truce.
Egypt is brokering a long-term, sustainable ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to continue the fragile calm in the enclave that went into effect on
January 18.
Cairo has been trying to get Hamas to agree to a deal which would end
Palestinian arms smuggling into Gaza, an Israeli key demand, and reopen the
coastal enclave's border crossing, one of Hamas' key demands.
Israel continues to seek an open-ended truce and has said that negotiations on
the blockade would only follow progress on negotiations on the release of Gilad
Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured near Gaza in June 2006.
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