Three US Congressional Democrats visit Gaza
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Gaza City, Feb 19, IRNA -- Three Congressional Democrats, including Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, visited Gaza on Thursday.
They said that they wanted to see for themselves the destruction caused by Israel’s war last month and assess the area’s needs.Although none of the Americans saw Hamas officials, a senior Hamas leader said he was pleased by their visit.
“This is a very good step reflecting the seriousness of this administration to follow up and get information about what is happening on the ground,” said Ahmed Youssef, the deputy foreign minister in the Hamas government.
“We know that we are still on the terrorist list and we know their position about not engaging with Hamas. But we are still happy that they are the ones evaluating the scale of the Israeli crimes and the destruction caused by Israel. By seeing for themselves, they can get a more balanced view than that of the previous administration.”
Mr. Kerry seemed intent on learning what Gaza needed. He spent some time talking with Sharhabeel al-Zaeem, a Gaza lawyer who is on the board of the American school, and asked him what Gaza most needed now.
Mr. Zaeem said the central need was for an opening of the border crossings into Gaza so that the destroyed areas could be rebuilt and the economy restarted following the war and several years of an Israeli-led embargo on Gaza in protest over rule by Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction.
Asked whether Gaza had enough food, Mr. Zaeem said it did but that it did not have enough fuel for its cars because Israel was not allowing enough in. He added that Israel contended that its security was threatened by allowing more goods into Gaza, but in his view Israel’s security was even more endangered by the closure of the borders because it bred frustration and radicalism.
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