Hamas warns of war with Israel if reconstruction obstructed

The armed wing of Islamic Hamas movement warned Thursday of another war with Israel, in case the process of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip is obstructed.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas armed wing, made the warning during a ceremony to reward families whose children were killed during the July Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, Xinhua reported.

"We tell all parties that obstructing reconstruction in the Gaza Strip will be a new blow fuses and the enemy (Israel) will be fully responsible for a big explosion because it is the only responsible for this obstruction," he said.

On July 8, Israel waged a large-scale air and ground military offensive on the Gaza Strip that lasted for 50 days, leaving more than 2,000 Palestinians and 70 Israelis killed and more than 11, 000 wounded.

The Israeli offensive stopped after Egypt brokered a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas-led militants. Israel agreed to ease the blockade on the enclave and facilitate the entrance of materials for reconstruction.

"Keeping the blockade imposed shows that the enemy is not respecting the ceasefire. The basic demands, after the war on Gaza had ended were the opening of the closed crossings, mainly Rafah crossing with Egypt," he added.

On Oct 12, donors held a two-day conference in Cairo and pledged $5.4 billion to construct tens of thousands of houses that were destroyed during the Israeli military offensive.

Since the end of the offensive, the flow of raw materials for constructions into the enclave has faced obstructions from time to time, although the UN agreed with Israel on the mechanism of allowing construction materials into Gaza.