"Israel" Rejects Qatars "Reconstructing Gaza Offer" After Egyptian Opposition

Local Editor

"Israel" rejected a Qatari proposal by the Persian Gulf emirate to carry out rehabilitation work in Gaza Strip in exchange for renewing diplomatic relations with "Israel", "Israeli" newspaper "Haaretz" reported on Thursday.

The rejection came after Egypt made it clear that it would find such a deal "difficult to digest", the newspaper added.

According to Egyptian sources, "Israel" provided Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with an outline of Qatar's proposal, which would allow it to bring construction materials and other goods into the Strip.

This way, Qataris would undertake reconstruction of infrastructure.
In exchange, the "Israeli" diplomatic mission the Qataris closed during Operation Cast Lead would reopen.

However, "Israel" rejected the plan, according to "Haaretz" due to Egyptian opposition.
An Egyptian source said his country was acting in coordination with "Israel" and the Quartet (the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia).

The source added, "Egypt has barred free passage of goods across its border into Gaza, despite criticism from other Arab countries and from the Egyptian public."

"It would be inappropriate for "Israel", in an effort to serve its own interests, to harm these agreements and put Egypt in an impossible position of being the only party blocking the passage of goods into Gaza," the source clarified.