Egypt asks Israel to prevent Turkish involvement in Gaza

Egypt has expressed concern over potential Turkish involvement in the Gaza Strip amid recent efforts by Israel and Turkey to re-establish diplomatic relations and has asked Israel to keep Turkey away from Gaza, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Thursday.

Haaretz claimed that Egyptian officials are disturbed by media reports suggesting that Israel has “agreed to take significant steps in easing the maritime siege on Gaza." Egypt approached Israel after the reports emerged and asked whether it "had committed to any easing of restrictions in the closure imposed on Gaza." The report says Egypt conveyed its objection to any Israeli concessions to Turkey with regard to the Gaza Strip.

Egypt keeps the Rafah crossing -- Gaza's only gate to the outside world other than the closed border gates with Israel -- closed to isolate Hamas. Cairo views Hamas as a Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was removed from power in Egypt in 2013 after a military coup led by Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the current president.

Turkey and Israel have recently held talks to reconcile after relations between the two hit their lowest levels when Israeli forces stormed a Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla that sought to breach the Israeli blockade on Gaza in 2010.

The raid left nine Turks and a Turkish-American citizen dead. Efforts since then to bring about reconciliation have failed to yield a positive result despite an Israeli apology in March 2013, one of the conditions set by Ankara for restoring relations with Tel Aviv. Turkey also demands an end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
  todayszaman.com
  8/1/16
--
-
Related:

• Turkey on way of being global power...

• Turkey, Israel need each other, says Erdoğan