Ya'alon and Ban
Ya'alon and BanAriel Hermoni, Defense Ministry

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon made clear on Monday that if Hamas rebuilds the terror tunnels, Israel will stop the rehabilitation process of Gaza.

Ya’alon, who is visiting the United States, made the comments during a meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at UN headquarters in New York.

"We want the people of Gaza to live in dignity and prosperity, to rebuild their homes and return to normal life. But we're very concerned. Yesterday, Hamas officials stated they plan to renovate the tunnels, and that’s instead of renovating the homes of Gazans,” Ya’alon told Ban.

"If this is the case, we cannot allow rehabilitation materials to enter Gaza," he clarified. "We also will not agree that Hamas will arm itself again. We have an interest that the people of Gaza will improve their financial situation and their lives, but it must be clear that the money and the equipment do not go towards terrorism, which is why we are closely watching the developments.”

Referring to claims that Israel deliberately hurt civilians and caused damage to property in Gaza, Ya’alon told the UN chief, "When you have to fight for 51 days to protect your citizens, and when Hamas uses civilians as human shields by concealing weapons in populated areas, the result is the severe blow we dealt [to Gaza]. We did not enjoy harming Gaza but we had to protect our citizens.”

Ya’alon noted that the IDF is holding an independent inquiry into some incidents that occurred during the fighting in Gaza, but noted, “We have a very bad experience with the Palestinians, which includes a lot of false evidence, and we cannot rely on what is said by them. There were cases where we were accused of attacking civilian areas, and it was ultimately discovered that it was Hamas or Islamic Jihad who fired [at these areas].”

The Defense Minister made clear to Ban that he "longs" for peace with the Palestinians, "particularly in light of my experiences of war. But we have an experience of two decades in which we failed. The talks with the Palestinians should go bottom-up. We should promote cooperation with them on matters related to economy, security, law and order and other areas, since we want the residents of the Palestinian Authority to have comfortable lives.”

“Only then will it be possible to advance the diplomatic track. But [PA Chairman] Abbas prefers to promote unilateral steps to delegitimize Israel and act against us in international institutions, instead of sitting down with us to try and promote moves,” said Ya’alon.