Israel postpones signing deal on removing Gaza settlements' remains

A senior Palestinian official denounced Israel on Tuesday for postponing signing a deal with the United Nations Developing Program (UNDP) on removing rubbles in the Gaza settlements that Israel had withdrawn from.

Palestinian Minister of Planning Ghassan Al-Khatib told the Voice of Palestine radio that Israel had postponed the signing of the joint agreement with UNDP that hold Israel financially responsible for removing the remains.

Al-Khatib said that if Israel signs the protocol, then the operation of removing the remains will start by December, although it was supposed to implement the plan right after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip.

Timothy Rothermel, the special representative of UNDP, has said that the operation of removing the settlements rubbles will start by December and will take a whole year.

He clarified that using these concretes as a basic layer for roads likely comes in the first position, adding that some of it might be used in a Japanese project to re-build northern and southern Gaza Strip main roads.

Removing the former settlements rubbles is considered an important step towards motivating the economic development in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli withdrawal in Sept. 12 that ended an Israeli army control in the region lasted for 38 years.

Source: Xinhua