العربية
EnglishClaim: Palestinian authority not enthusiastic over Turkish-Israeli deal
Jack Khoury claims Palestinian authorities and people not enthusiastic over deal signed by Turkish and Israeli governments
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Mashal at Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party congress in 2012
On 28 June 2016, Jack Khoury had an article published in Israeli newspaper Haaretz in which he claimed that a deal signed on 27 June 2016 between Turkey and Israel, aimed at normalizing the bilateral relations, restoring the ties between them and easing the Israeli blockade on Gaza, has not satisfied the Palestinians.
Khoury’s article touches on the above-mentioned deal saying:
Neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas-run Gaza will be particularly enthusiastic over the deal and its promise of Turkish humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is supposed to start flowing immediately.1
However, as opposed to what was alleged in Khoury’s article, only a few hours after the Turkish and Israeli governments arrived at a solution, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza, made a statement presenting his thanks to the Turkish government and the Turkish people for being helpful.
In its first reaction to the agreement, Hamas expressed its “thanks and gratitude to Turkish President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan” and the Turkish people.
The group which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 also praised “official and popular Turkish efforts to help our people in Gaza and lighten the blockade” imposed by Israel.2