CAIRO: The new Hamas-led Palestinian government is considering connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt s telecommunications network, communications and technology minister Jamal Al-Khodari said Monday. In the context of the separation from Israel, we are looking, with Egypt, into the possibility of connecting Gaza to the Egyptian telecommunication network, Khodari told Egypt s MENA news agency after meeting his counterpart, Tarek Kamel. We are currently linked to the Israeli network and, when we call abroad, we have to go through the Israeli network before reaching the desired country, which is very costly, said the Hamas minister. Khodari asked the Egyptian government to approve the request and to allow the Palestinian Authority to import goods into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing from Egypt. Egyptian border guards have been patrolling the Egypt-Gaza border since Israel unilaterally pulled out of the Palestinian territory in September 2005. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas asked Hamas to form a government after it trounced his mainstream Fatah faction in January parliamentary elections. Israel has urged a boycott of the new Palestinian government until Hamas renounces violence and recognizes the Jewish state s right to exist. AFP
Hamas wants Gaza connected to Egyptian telecom network
