JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities said on Thursday that they have decided to block most of Gaza’s small Christian community from entering Israel for Easter celebrations, citing security concerns.
Israel maintains a blockade over the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and restricts entry from the territory. But it often eases the restrictions during religious holidays to allow Gaza’s residents to visit holy sites in Jerusalem or to visit relatives in Israel or the West Bank.
COGAT, the defense body that oversees Palestinian civilian affairs, said it will let only Christians aged 55 and older and children under age 16 enter Israel for Easter, which is celebrated by Catholics on Sunday and Orthodox Christians the following week. It said the restrictions were needed after previous cases in which Gazan visitors overstayed their permitted time in Israel.
A Christian leader in Gaza said the restrictions mean that only about one-third of the community’s 1,100 members will be allowed into Israel to celebrate. He said he was disappointed because his children would not be able to see their aunts in the West Bank city of Ramallah. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize his own entry permit.
Wadie Abunassar, a Catholic Church official, called the restrictions “very sad” because Easter is a family holiday. He said it was “not reasonable” to allow a mother and father to enter Israel, while “leaving their children back in Gaza,” and urged Israel to reconsider.
“If people want to leave, they don’t want to leave for a honeymoon,” he said. “It is for a family trip.”
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Israel to restrict entry of Gaza Christians for Easter
Israel to restrict entry of Gaza Christians for Easter
Israel says it killed Hamas financial officer in Gaza
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.
Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas’s armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in “a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet,” Israel’s internal security agency.
Zaqut “belonged to the financial department of the armed wing” of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.
“Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel,” he said.
Hamas’s leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Raed Saad and “his companions,” though he did not name Zaqut.
The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’s military wing and oversaw the group’s build-up of capabilities.
Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.
The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.
Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas’s armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in “a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet,” Israel’s internal security agency.
Zaqut “belonged to the financial department of the armed wing” of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.
“Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel,” he said.
Hamas’s leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Raed Saad and “his companions,” though he did not name Zaqut.
The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’s military wing and oversaw the group’s build-up of capabilities.
Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.
The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.
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