The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday that the Israeli government is considering taking a series of measures with the aim of preventing a security escalation with the Gaza Strip, for fear of harming the ongoing talks with Saudi Arabia to reach a normalization agreement mediated by the United States.

According to the Hebrew newspaper, among what is being studied is increasing the share of Gaza Strip workers who are allowed to work in “Israel,” and easing the conditions for bringing goods into the Strip.

Haaretz pointed out that Israel is holding talks with Qatar, with the aim of transferring financial aid to the Hamas government in Gaza, to pay the salaries of its employees.

The newspaper says that in recent weeks, Hamas has increased its pressure on Israel through violent marches on the border fence.

A Western diplomat who recently visited the Gaza Strip told the Hebrew newspaper, “These pressures come due to the worsening economic distress in Gaza, the cut off of international aid transferred to the population, and the increasing difficulties facing the Strip,” noting that the United Nations bodies working in Gaza, including UNRWA , is facing difficulties in collecting donations from the international community.

The Israeli security establishment estimates that Hamas initiated the marches and encouraged them to pressure Israel to take immediate measures to improve the economic situation, whether in the form of decisions to increase the workers’ share or in the form of the flow of financial payments from Qatar.

The newspaper says that since Operation “Guardian of the Walls” (Saif al-Quds) in May 2021, it has refrained from launching missile attacks towards “Israel,” and has not participated in any of the rounds of fighting between Islamic Jihad and “Israel,” due to economic considerations, including The decision of the previous Israeli government to allow the entry of workers from Gaza for the first time in more than a decade. The current government continued the same policy and increased the number of workers, and is currently studying increasing them from 15,000 to 20,000 workers as a first stage if calm is maintained.

According to the Hebrew newspaper, the Qatari ambassador, Mohammed Al-Emadi, has made extensive contacts in recent days to try to prepare solutions that will calm the region, and perhaps one of his achievements is the reopening of the “Erez” checkpoint, for the passage of workers from Gaza to “Israel.”

The newspaper pointed out that the continuation of the current Israeli government, with the same policy as the previous government regarding the entry of workers, and the possibility of strengthening other economic measures to improve the situation in Gaza, has so far been accepted by the pillars of the government, including the extreme right wing led by Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, but not It is clear how long they will continue to support this line, but it is expected that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will insist on this if the matter is put up for discussion in the government due to the desire to maintain calm in the Palestinian territories, especially in light of continued contacts with Saudi Arabia.

US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu during their meeting in New York last week that preventing violent escalation against the Palestinians will help the US administration strengthen communications with Saudi Arabia, and senior officials in the Biden administration during the past months sent similar messages emphasizing linking the situation with the Palestinians to achieving progress. In normalization with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.