Israel Approves 3,000 Gaza Workers for UAE-Funded Project Amid Hamas Dispute

Israel's Shin Bet security agency has approved 3,000 workers from Gaza to build the "Green Rafah" project, a development funded by the UAE in an area under Israeli military control in the southern Gaza Strip. The approval reportedly came after insistence from the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, despite initial Shin Bet reservations.

A report in Yisrael Hayom claimed that Hamas is preventing workers from transferring to the areas controlled by the Israeli military, alleging that Hamas, not Israel, is the source of Gaza's problems. The report also highlighted a letter from Yoram Hilevi, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, to Mladenov, warning of Hamas's alleged "actual control over aid and imposing heavy taxes on traders," which Hamas denies.

Hamas issued a statement rejecting the claims, calling them a "transparent attempt to deepen the humanitarian crisis" and a "Zionist attempt to evade its obligations under the ceasefire agreement." The group accused Mladenov of bias towards Israel and urged him to pressure Israel to lift the blockade and allow the National Committee for Gaza Management to begin its work.

Hilevi had previously recommended reducing the number of aid trucks entering Gaza daily from 600 to 250 and curbing Hamas's financial gains from aid shipments. However, the UN Special Coordinator's office rejected this proposal, fearing accusations of starvation and potential tax increases by Hamas on remaining trucks. Mladenov responded to Hilevi's letter, stating that such behavior is unacceptable and must stop, emphasizing that threats to traders and interference with supply chains only worsen the suffering of civilians. He also called on Israel to expedite plans for the entry of the National Committee for Gaza Management and a multinational force, even without Hamas's disarmament, a step Israel opposes as long as Hamas remains armed.