The Palestinians apparently planned this all along. They strategically placed bombs that brought down the metal fence on the 7-mile border (erected by Israel) a couple of days ago. The Egyptian police have been instructed not to shoot at anyone in fear of a public backlash, and the Mubarak government has been under pressure for a while now from the public to open up the border with Gaza to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there. I am sure this wasn't what they had in mind, but it looks like they're going to tolerate the situation for now. Everything Egyptian officials have said over the last two days seems to indicate that they're really at a loss as far as knowing what course of action to take. They can't be seen beating Palestinians like a bunch of sheep back into Gaza (no one would tolerate that, Arabs, Europeans or the international community at large), so they don't want to be seen as the 'bad guy'. At the same time, Israeli officials seem to be taking advantage of the situation trying to basically relinquish all responsibilities to Gaza back to the Egyptians; the Egyptians, of course, refuse to even entertain that thought and it looks like this might become yet another major point of contention between the two countries. Let's face it: no one wants to have anything to do with Gaza, not the Israelis and certainly not the Egyptians. On a side note, I am interested to see how Egypt plans to deal with the people who're responsible for destroying that metal fence (probably Hamas), first there was the Palestinian pilgrims incident and now this international embarasment. Gazans Flood Into Egypt http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians Israel wants to cut its Gaza links: official http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080124/ts_nm/palestinians_israel_dc_3;_ylt=Ao214d0CmTufhiDllGVhR2oUewgF
I don't understand this part: does Hamas want Israel to be responsible for running things? Israel wants nothing to do with the gaza Strip, isn't that what Hamas wants??
This is probably mostly Hamas rhetoric to whip up antagonism against Israel but probably what they directly want is for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza.
Yes and No; it's the Middle East, so bear with me ... Hamas wants the Israelis to stay out of Gaza militarily (they've been for the most part as far as official policy is concerned, but those pesky rockets keep getting fired into Israeli border towns and Israel responds with limited incursions/blockades/military sieges). So there is still tit-for-tat violence going on there. At the same time, however, Israel is responsible for providing some of the everyday necessities to Gazans like fuel, cooking oil, etc. as an "occupying force" (technically, Israel is still considered an occupier of Palestinian territories, although not necessarily Gaza). They don't pay out of pocket for it, but they're responsible for delivering the goods in interest of humanitarian concerns/international pressure. It's a long-standing arrangement mostly. For all their disagreements, the Israelis and Egyptians agree on one thing: we want nothing to do with Gaza. Unfortunately for both, they will have to find a way to improve the living conditions in Gaza or they will have to deal with the 'spillover' effects (case in point, this)
So basically, Hamas wants its independence but at the same time administrative help from the very people that they are fighting against. So even if Israel says, ok it's all yours, do what you want, Hamas would not be happy with this?? I'm struggling to make sense of that.
Hamas doesn't have the capacity to provide anything beyond some form of 'security' in Gaza (when they want to). The only thing they have is a bunch of AK-47's, lots of 'em. They're also much less corrupt than Fatah, but that actually hurts them in the long run because they're not a 'flexible' bunch to deal with (you know, it's much easier/preferable to deal with corrupt politicians that you can buy off; principled politicians are a b****!). Now if Hamas was led by a bunch of business entrepreneurs, may be things would be different. They're a smart bunch, survivors even, but they seriously lack any 'goodwill' in the region (Arab regimes included). How much time do we have here?
I've heard from an inside source that the area that breached was designed and built by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The border breach situation seems to have renewed tensions between Egypt and Israel. It boils down to this: Egypt is blaming Israel for basically making life impossible for Gazans that the border breach was a mere 'spillover effect', putting the Egyptians in a really bad spot regionally and internationally. The Egyptians are now insisting on a 'comprehensive' agreement that governs border security arrangements among all sides involved (Israel, Egypt and Palestinians), and several officials went on record promising not to allow a future breach of border security by anyone, indicating that next time they will use a 'heavy hand'. The problem, of course, is that Hamas rules Gaza and neither side (Israel or Egypt, that is) is willing to have Hamas militants take part in the new arrangement, and Abbas' security forces no longer have much of a presence in Gaza, since the two sides (Hamas and Fatah) are officially at a standoff and simply won't communicate. Locally, thousands of Palestinians are being arrested daily inside Egypt and are awaiting deportation proceedings, including hundreds who have foreign visas but are stranded in Egypt unable to travel (mostly international students). A lot of finger-pointing going on over there... Israeli Power Cuts to Gaza Violate Laws of War: HRW http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=106607&d=8&m=2&y=2008&pix=world.jpg&category=World JERUSALEM — Israel’s move to cut energy supplies to the Gaza Strip amounts to collective punishment of civilians and violates the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said in a report published yesterday. Aid groups have warned that the Israeli sanctions are set to tighten today with a reduction of electricity provided to the impoverished Hamas-run territory. “Israel’s cuts of fuel and electricity to Gaza, set to escalate today, amount to collective punishment of the civilian population, and violate Israel’s obligations under the laws of war,” the New York-based group said. Israel began reducing the amount of fuel it supplied to Gaza in late October after declaring the coastal strip a “hostile entity” following its takeover by Hamas, an Islamist movement pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state. Israel says the measures are aimed at stopping Gaza militants from firing rockets into Israel and has pledged not to allow a humanitarian disaster in the territory where most of the population depends on foreign aid. But HRW said the measures were affecting civilians not involved in anti-Israeli violence and having a grave impact on essential infrastructure like hospitals, water-pumping stations and sewage treatment facilities. “Israel views restricting fuel and electricity to Gaza as a way to pressure Palestinian armed groups to stop their rocket and suicide attacks,” HRW’s Middle East director Joe Stork said in the statement. “But the cuts are seriously affecting civilians who have nothing to do with these armed groups, and that violates a fundamental principle of the laws of war,” he said. “Indiscriminate Palestinian rocket and suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians constitute war crimes, but Israel’s attempts to suppress those attacks must not also violate international humanitarian law,” the group said. Mohammed Mar’i adds from Ramallah: As the European Union special envoy to the Middle East Marc Otte yesterday warned that the Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip are likely to turn the territory into Somalia, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed harsher military action against the area if Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire Qassam rockets at southern Israeli communities. Otte said in an interview with the daily Haaretz “Israel’s tactics in the Gaza Strip did not work.” He added, “the blockade and the sanctions against the (Palestinian) population failed, and only strengthened Hamas and weakened (Prime Minister Salam) Fayyad and (President Mahmoud Abbas) Abu Mazen.” The EU official added, “the implications of Israeli activity may be that Gaza becomes Somalia.” Otte is visiting Israel for talks with Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni over the breached border of Gaza Strip along the Philadelphi Route (Salaheddin Route on the border between Gaza and Egypt). He held similar talks with senior Egyptian officials in Cairo this week. He expressed concern that Israel is still uncertain how to deal with the new situation that has emerged along the border, and described some of the ideas the Egyptians are proposing for resolving the crisis. “There has been a significant change in the Egyptian appreciation of the severity of the problem at Rafah,” Otte told Haaretz. Otte says that President Hosni Mubarak and Egypt’s Intelligence Chief, Omar Suleiman, are interested in a “package deal” that will bring about a more general settlement to the border situation between Israel and Egypt, and Israel and the Gaza Strip. According to the Egyptian plan, there would be a renewed opening of the Rafah crossing along the lines of the previous agreement, intensive efforts to curb smuggling, and Israeli support for Fayyad’s plan to transfer control over the Karni and Sufa crossings to the Palestinian Authority. The EU envoy says that Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip was central to the breach in the border by Hamas. “The pressure on the population did not cause them to throw Hamas to the sea,” he said. “The blockade and its results did not harm Hamas, only made things more complex for Israel and Egypt and created unnecessary tension between the two states.” Barak said “If the Qassam fire from Gaza continues, we will step up our operations and increase the strikes against the Palestinian side until the problem is resolved.” Barak added during a visit to the Tze’elim army base in the southern Negev Desert yesterday “the operational activity brings results. This will not end today or tomorrow, but the combination of military operations and the sanctions on the Strip, along with the anticipated fortification of some of the communities, will eventually bring an end to Qassam attacks.” In a related development, the International Quartet’s representative to the Middle East Tony Blair said that the “Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories must end as well as all military checkpoints be removed in order to establish real peace.” Blair said in a press conference in West Bank city of Nablus he knows quite well the degree of suffering the Palestinians face due to Israeli occupation and military checkpoints. However, he said, more Palestinian efforts should be exerted in order to eliminate all Israeli pretexts to continue occupying Nablus, which is striving to become the economic capital of Palestine.
Israel is incredible. We here all this talk about how if the security was better the Israelis would lighten up. Well we went over a year without suicide bombing and Israel didn't loosen up anything. They just can't be trusted to try that model of agreements at all. We need a fresh approach. While we are at it, Hamas has a ton of problems with their overall attitude towards Israel, and part of the fresh approach needs to be in working to change at least the future possibilities they are willing to accept including Israel's right to exist on their land.
Oh yeah, here's an example of a not-so-subtle Egyptian frustration with the aftermath of the border breach: "Meanwhile, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit yesterday warned that Palestinians caught sneaking across the border “will have their legs broken,” according to the country’s official MENA news agency." The Egyptians are in a bad mood these days...
