A Palestinian woman waves a national flag during clashes with Israeli forces in east of Gaza City near the Israeli border on Nov. 2, 2018. (AFP photo)
GAZA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- A progress has been achieved in breaking the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza, following consultations and understandings by interested parties, Islamic Hamas movement announced Tuesday.
A progress was made in breaking the Israeli blockade, which had been imposed on the Gaza Strip for 12 years, "without paying any political prices," Hamas spokesman Abdulatif al-Qanou'a said in a statement.
He unveiled that "throughout the understandings, it was agreed to stabilize the status of calm in Gaza depending on the cease-fire agreement, brokered by Egypt in 2014, between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli occupation."
In the summer of 2014, Israel waged a large-scale air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip for 50 days. The offensive ended after Egypt brokered a cease-fire agreement between the Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Israel.
On March 30, Hamas and other factions formed the highest commission of the "Great March of Return" and organized weekly protests and rallies in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel.
Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement that since March 30, when the marches and protests broke out, the Israeli army killed at least 218 Palestinians and wounded 23,000 others. 40 percent of them were injured by live ammunition.
Al-Qanou'a stressed that the event is now close to achieve all its goals, adding that "the siege that has been imposed on the Gaza Strip is collapsing thanks to the sacrifices of our people."
During the weekly protests, the Palestinians released hundreds of arson balloons into southern Israel, and had burned tires every week close to the border with Israel, an action that kept tension with Israel flaring all the time.
Egypt, United Nations and Qatar intervened to restore clam in the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas since Israel had imposed a tight blockade on the coastal enclave in 2007.
The United States, Israel and the entire international community called on Israel to ease the tight restrictions it imposed on Gaza and improve the deteriorating humanitarian situation that doubled the suffering of its two million people.
"Resolving the crisis of power shortage, expanding the fishing area off the Gaza Strip coast, easing restrictions at border crossing points and the Qatari grant of paying for the fuel and the salaries of the employees are the first steps towards ending the Israeli siege," Hamas spokesman said.
Meanwhile, several ministries' representatives in the Gaza Strip announced on Tuesday that a package of financial aid for employees, families of those were killed and injured in the rallies will receive cashes on Wednesday.
The Hamas-run ministry of work announced that it started the program of employing 10,000 newly graduated students in the Gaza Strip.
