A new Israeli proposal to resolve the issue of the Gaza Strip through the development of the Egyptian Sinai region was discussed on Sunday in the context of the so-called "economic peace" which is supported by several Arab countries.
"The situation in the Gaza Strip requires the development of the Egyptian Sinai region," said Shimon Shapira, former military secretary to the Israeli prime minister.
This proposal was also supported by Shlomi Vogel, one of the promoters of the idea of economic peace and who has already presented initiatives for normalization with Arab countries.
According to press reports, Israel aims, through the development of the Sinai, to revive the economy of Gaza and to present the project as a model achievement of the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, while at the same time a way to avoid Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the scene of events.
It is noteworthy that Abbas categorically rejects the economic peace project, and insists that the solution must be political in the first place.
In this context, the Palestinian Authority boycotted the economic peace workshop organized recently by the US administration in Manama, Bahrain.
According to an Israeli research report, the new proposal includes an escalation of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the entreatment of the Palestinian resistance to a military confrontation that would result in a suffocating crisis in the sector leading to the adoption of a new policy.
Gaza is a major problem for Israel and the international community, and its economy is on the verge of collapse, the report said.
This is not the first time that reports have spoken of Israel's attempt to use Sinai to resolve the Palestinian issue.
Earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak revealed that the Israelis had previously asked him to give up part of the Sinai to be part of the future Palestinian state, but he categorically rejected the request.