Fishermen cautiously sailed out, and market vendors unpacked fruit and vegetables. Outside wrecked mosques, men spread carpets on the sandy ground. Gaza edged back toward normalcy Friday, the first Muslim day of prayer since the end of Israel’s war with Hamas.
The United Nations said some 200,000 children who study at U.N. schools were due in class Saturday for the first time since Israel launched its offensive Dec. 27. Thirty schools were damaged in the fighting, U.N. spokesman Christopher Gunness said.
Israel opened its pedestrian crossing into the Gaza Strip, allowing free access for international journalists and humanitarian workers for the first time since before the offensive.
On another side of the border.
International calls to investigate Israel over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip prompted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday to promise military personnel state protection from foreign prosecution.
“The commanders and soldiers sent to Gaza should know they are safe from various tribunals and Israel will assist them on this front and defend them, just as they protected us with their bodies during the Gaza operation,” Olmert said.
On the economic side:
In addition to the difficult long-term security concerns that are sure to arise from Operation Cast Lead, the long-overdue Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip has also raised a number of ancillary concerns that will need to be addressed over the coming weeks, including the future of key offshore natural-gas supplies.
About a year ago, The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel and UK-based BG Group, one of the world’s largest purveyors of natural gas, broke off talks concerning the possible sale of the natural gas contained in the Gaza Marine gas field, an area about 36 kilometers off of the Gaza coast.
In 1999, after paying the Palestinian Authority an undisclosed sum, BG, along with its partner, Consolidated Contractors Corporations, acquired the concession to survey for natural gas in 1,000 square kilometers of the Gaza Marine area.
In their agreement with BG, the PA stipulated that BG must pay it at least 10 percent of the royalties from any future sales of the gas, which the PA said would be placed directly into its Palestinian Investment Fund.