Abbas urges removal of all Israeli 'obstacles' on Gaza ceasefire

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas called on Saturday for the removal of "all obstacles" he said Israel has imposed on implementing phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.

"We emphasise the need to lift all obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation on the implementation of the provisions related to the second phase of the agreement," Abbas said, in a speech read by his prime minister Mohammed Mustafa at an African Union summit in Ethiopia.

This included the work of a technocratic committee established to oversee the daily governance of Gaza, he added.

Removal of the obstacles was needed to "ensure continuity of services, coordinate humanitarian efforts and enable a swift recovery", the president said.

Abbas accused Israel of "continuing to violate" the ceasefire agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas that took effect in October and was backed by the United States.

"From the announcement of the ceasefire until today, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed (in Gaza), which threatens the durability of the truce and the full implementation of its second phase," he added.

Even though the US-brokered truce entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Palestinian territory, with Israel and Hamas trading blame.

The deal is aimed at permanently ending the Gaza war and was endorsed in November by the United Nations.

The second phase stipulates that Israeli forces gradually withdraw from Gaza and Hamas should disarm, with an international stabilisation force deployed to ensure security.

Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.

'A number of conditions'

The Israeli army still controls more than half of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas and Israel accuse each other daily of ceasefire violations.

Fifteen Palestinian experts on the technocratic committee, which is being overseen by a "Board of Peace" set up by US President Donald Trump, are currently based in Egypt, despite a partial reopening on Feb.2 of the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only gateway to the outside world that does not lead to Israel.

Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat whom Trump named high representative for Gaza, said on Friday that "a number of conditions need to be met" before technocratic committee members can enter the Palestinian territory.

"One, Hamas needs to transfer the civilian control of the institutions in Gaza," he told a discussion on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

"This is not a government coming in after an election. This is far much more complicated," he said.

"Because Hamas has been governing Gaza for 20 years and... implementing policies that are not in line with Palestinian legislation," he added.

Other conditions he mentioned included ending Gaza ceasefire violations and "a radical increase in the assistance to people, aid going into Gaza."

"And finally, we need to make sure that we have the framework agreed in place on the decommissioning of weapons in Gaza," Mladenov said, emphasising the importance of the future role of a Palestinian security force.

He said the International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for the territory -- set out under the Trump plan to end the war - "is extremely important."

"But far more important than the ISF is the new Palestinian security force that should be deployed in Gaza, that should be able to secure the ground with the assistance of the ISF," he added.

Agence France-Presse