Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Elder of Ziyon
Deputy prime minister Ziad Zaza said that Hamas seeks to open and activate the Gaza International Airport, saying "The government has received Egyptian promises to provide facilities for large Rafah [material transfers] in the coming days, as well as demands by the Egyptian mediator for the reinstatement of Gaza International Airport, and the Gaza seaport."
Zaza claims that the terms of the truce allows unlimited imports of construction materials to Gaza, not just the materials needed for specific NGO projects that Israel had been approving. The construction materials will be imported from Egypt using a planned improved Rafah crossing.
The airport was owned and managed by the PA.
While Israel's legal right to a naval blockade of Gaza is pretty ironclad, I am not sure what avenues Israel can use to stop airplanes flying from Gaza over Egyptian airspace. (Besides bombing the runways.)
