Turkey-Israel talks on ending Gaza blockade made progress: Hamas

Talks between Turkey and Israel over ending around nine years of Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip have made progress, a senior Islamic Hamas movement official said Friday.

Ismail Heneya, Hamas deputy chief told prayers at one of Gaza city's mosques that the Turkish talks with Israel aim at speeding up the construction plan of Gaza and the file of Gaza seaport.

Haneya didn't give more details on the issue. However, a senior Turkish official had announced two days ago that talks on normalizing ties between his country and Israel, that has been going on for a long time, reached its final stage.

Israel Public Radio reported that according to the Turkish official, the two countries are very close to sign on an agreement on all issues the two sides have been negotiating and discussing.

Turkey had conditioned an end of the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for the normalization of political and economical ties with Israel. The blockade was imposed in 2007, following Hamas violent takeover of the coastal enclave.

Meanwhile, Haneya said his movement's armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, discovered listening devices and cameras underground to unveil the armed resistance tunnels that militants dig underneath Gaza.

"Gaza has now a deterrence power for any upcoming confrontation with Israel," Haneya said, adding that "there is no imminent war (with Israel) on Gaza in the horizon."

He said the Israeli occupation is carrying out defensive maneuver "and this is a clear evidence that they (Israelis) are not preparing to wage a war on the Gaza Strip soon." Endit