Fatah Official Condemns US-Led Peace Council

Gaza (ANTARA) - A senior Fatah official on Wednesday (22/7) criticised the United States-led Board of Peace as a “council of occupation”, accusing Washington and Israel of obstructing the implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

“There is no ‘Board of Peace’ at all. If there were a sincere will, particularly on the part of the United States, to reinforce the ceasefire, then the second phase would already have been completed. However, the occupying side continues to obstruct its implementation,” Fatah spokesman Munther al-Hayek told the official Voice of Palestine radio station.

Al-Hayek condemned statements by Israeli officials regarding the possible return of Israeli settlements to Gaza as mere fantasy. He also said that Israel would not be able to lay a single stone in the enclave.

He further said that the Israeli military is building earthen embankments and trenches from the eastern part of the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City and the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, extending into the central part of the enclave, which reflects Israel’s refusal to proceed to the second phase as well as its intention to maintain a military presence in Gaza.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday that the land barrier being built by the military has expanded the area under Israeli control to approximately 65 per cent of the Gaza Strip.

The Board of Peace was officially launched by US President Donald Trump at the end of January during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.