Israel blocks shipment to Gaza after Palestinians sign treaties

Wataniya, the Palestinian mobile phone company, said on Tuesday that Israel had blocked a shipment of its equipment into the Gaza Strip, in apparent retaliation for the Palestinian decision last week to accede to 14 international treaties.

The move came as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met again on Tuesday to try to prevent the collapse of peace talks that were scheduled to last until the end of April, but hit a crisis point last week over Israel's delay of a planned prisoner release, which prompted the Palestinians to resume their push for international recognition, begun in 2012.

Wataniya secured Israeli authorities' assent to begin shipping the equipment needed to build its network into Gaza late last December. The move was one of several economic measures approved by Israel in conjunction with US secretary of state John Kerry's $4bn economic plan for the Palestinian territories launched in parallel with the peace talks that began last June.

However, Fayez Husseini, Wataniya Mobile's chief executive, told the Financial Times on Tuesday that part of a shipment of its network infrastructure had been prevented from entering Gaza on April 2.

"The shipments that were supposed to go in were not allowed in," Mr Husseini said. He added that the equipment needed to build radio sites and masts for Wataniya's Gaza network were let in, but cement and steel were stopped at the border.

"We are waiting to see if this is the position of the Israeli government, and if it is final," he said.

The delay occurred a day after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed initial paperwork to join the 14 treaty organisations. This came after Israel failed to release 30 Palestinian prisoners, meant to be the final group of 104 long-serving detainees set free in a bid to secure an extension of the peace talks.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would take unspecified "steps" in response to what he called the Palestinians' unilateral move on treaties. Israel vehemently opposes any Palestinian push for recognition outside peace talks.

Israel did not say what these steps might include, but authorities told Israeli media that some of the economic concessions Israel agreed to last year might be revoked, including Wataniya's infrastructure rollout.

Mr Netanyahu's office declined to comment on Wataniya's complaint. However, an Israeli government official, who declined to be named, did not deny the company's allegation that Israel had blocked the shipment.

"When the Palestinians signed their documents to join the UN treaties and institutions, we saw that as a grave violation of the understandings that were reached and we told them so," the official said. "The steps that have been taken until now are initial and modest, and we hope it's possible to return to negotiations."

On Sunday, as Mr Netanyahu warned of retaliation, the Palestinian Authority's telecommunications ministry said it was preparing to file a complaint at the International Telecommunication Union, the UN agency, against what it described as Israeli sanctions on Palestinian cellular companies.

The Maan news agency quoted Sulaiman Zuheri, an undersecretary in the ministry, as saying that Israel's actions would "thwart" Mr Kerry's plans to develop the Palestinian economy. The report cited impediments on the transfer of equipment into Gaza, and Israel's long-running denial of 3G internet services to Palestinian providers.

Mr Abbas is to attend a meeting of the Arab League on Wednesday to discuss the stalled peace negotiations and how to proceed.

"We are committed to the last day of this negotiation period," a Palestinian official told the Financial Times. However, he added: "We haven't seen any progress, especially when Israel failed to meet its obligations to release the fourth phase of Palestinian prisoners."

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