US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold talks on Thursday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to revive the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and bolster the moderate government of Mr. Abbas. Mr. Abbas's Fatah forces lost control of the Gaza Strip in June, after Islamic militants of Hamas seized power in the territory. Fatah now controls only the West Bank. Since then, Gaza's economy has been virtually shut down because Israel, citing security concerns, has closed the borders to the strip. Life is hard and getting harder in the Gaza Strip. Some street vendors are protesting that Hamas Islamic militants put them out of business as part of a crackdown on illegal activities in Gaza. Hamas seized power in June. Since then order has prevailed on Gaza's once chaotic streets. But many residents complain that the cost of security is too high. In addition, Israel closed its borders with Gaza because Israel, like much of the international community, considers Hamas a terrorist organization. Gaza's borders with Israel have been closed to everything except humanitarian assistance. Since the Hamas takeover, economic life has ground to a halt in much of Gaza. More than 70 percent of Gaza's factories have closed since Hamas took over. Nasser el Helu is one of Gaza's most prominent businessmen. He says soon Gaza's private sector will be gone - and with it, a rare pillar of stability in the volatile strip. Just a few weeks ago, Hamas fighters and ...
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น