Israeli occupation and the United States agree to link Gaza reconstruction to disarmament

Ramallah, August 17 (KUNA) -- Israeli occupation media reported on Monday that the Israeli occupation and the United States have agreed to link the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to the disarmament of the Palestinian Hamas movement. The office of the Israeli prime minister said in a statement that an agreement had been reached with the U.S. administration to form two working groups to operate in the Gaza Strip, following a meeting that lasted several hours with U.S. envoy Jared Kushner. He added that the meeting, attended by officials from the Peace Council, namely Nikolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, discussed the transition to the second phase of the U.S. plan for the Gaza Strip. He clarified that the first working group focuses on the disarmament of Gaza and its demilitarization, while the second group concentrates on sanitation, clean water, and other public health issues in the Strip. Kushner had previously met with Hamas leaders in Cairo to implement the second phase of the 20-point U.S. peace plan. (End) N.Q.