Bardawil: Egypt committed to open Rafah terminal if IOA refused calm

Bardawil: Egypt committed to open Rafah terminal if IOA refused calm

MP Dr. Salah Bardawil, one of the Hamas political leaders in Gaza, has affirmed that Egypt was committed to opening the Rafah border crossing between it and Gaza in the event the Israeli occupation authority refused the Egyptian-proposed calm.


Bardawil, in a press release late Saturday, said that the agreement with the “Egyptian brothers is clear” and that an agreement was reached on the form and mechanism of calm. “We tabled our speculation to the brothers in Egypt and they welcomed it,” he explained.


The MP stressed that Cairo promised to alleviate suffering of the Palestinian people and to lift the siege imposed on them in the event the IOA refused or negatively dealt with the calm initiative.


Even if calm was reached then Israel breached it, Egypt is committed to retain the crossing open, he elaborated.


Husam Zaki, an Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, said that Cairo”s efforts focused on stabilizing calm between Hamas and Israel within a complete deal, hinting that Egypt was not officially committed to opening Rafah crossing if the calm initiative failed.


Bardawil said that the few coming days would prove whether the promise was true or otherwise.


He added that the agreement with Egypt was in writing and that Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahhar, who signed the agreement with Egyptian officials, was reading it from a written paper at his press conference in which he announced articles of the agreement.


Calm is only part of the struggle with the “Zionist enemy” that targets liberating Palestinian lands, the Hamas leader underlined.