- There seems to have been a striking mismatch between
the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which is a territory of the Palestinian
National Autonomy, and its total blockade on the one hand, and the officially
stated objectives of G. Bush's Middle East tour on the other. The developments
are an indication that a carte blanche was given to Israel during the visit
of the US President to carry out any operations it deems necessary for
its security.
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- On January 16, 2008, which was the last day of G. Bush's
Middle East tour, the Israeli army launched a massive operation against
the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) and other
Palestinian militant groups (the Islamic Jihad, the Salah Ad Din brigades,
etc.). Israel said that the operation was a response to the continuing
firing of the Qassam rockets at its territory.
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- The Israeli operation spread to the West Bank where it
targeted militants from the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who are the allies
of Fatah. Regions where the militants maintained bases were "cleansed"
and strikes by artillery and aircrafts were delivered, the result being
dozens of fatalities among Palestinians including civilians. Israel also
launched point strikes against the leaders of the militant groups killing
several commanders of the Hamas military wing and other formations.
-
- At the same time, Israel imposed a total blockade on
the Gaza Strip. All check points were closed and the supply of the electric
power, gas, and medications was cut off (the power plant supplying electricity
to the Gaza Strip is located in Israel). City infrastructures (water treatment
facilities, bakeries, stores, etc), hospitals, and other institutions were
paralyzed as a result, and the delivery of the UN humanitarian assistance
was made impossible. Thus, the population of the Gaza Strip (about
1,000,000 people) faced a humanitarian disaster.
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- The US did not condemn Israel's moves in any way, regarding
them as a realization of the legitimate right to self-defense necessary
to ensure the security of the Israeli citizens. It blamed Hamas for the
sufferings of the Gaza Strip population. According to the Egyptian Al-Ahram,
which cited a Hebrew-language Israeli TV channel, Israeli PM E. Olmert
told G. Bush that, in addition to putting an end to attacks against Israel
and to the smuggling of weapons from Egypt, the operation launched by the
Israeli army pursued a certain strategic goal. The goal was to bring down
Hamas in the Gaza Strip and to restore the control of the administration
of Mahmoud Abbas over it. The Israeli PM intends to continue negotiations
and to seek a political settlement with M. Abbas.
-
- This interpretation is espoused by the political opponents
of M. Abbas in the Palestinian autonomy, particularly by the head of the
Interior and Security Committee in the Palestinian Legislative Council
Ismail Al-Ashqar and by Ehab Al-Ghasin, spokesperson of the Ministry of
the Interior in Ismail Haniyeh's government. In an interview to Al-Ahram
Weekly, they charged that M. Abbas, Fatah, and its military forces struck
a secret deal with Israel to oust Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip with
Israel's hands. They cite increasingly frequent provocations by the Fatah
security services controlled by M. Abbas, the alleged goal of the provocations
being to destabilize the situation in the Gaza Strip and to give Israel
a pretext to rout Hamas.
-
- Obviously, Israel hurries to take advantage of Washington's
absolute support and the divisions in the Palestinian movement in order
to eliminate Hamas from the political scene and to conclude the negotiations
with the administration of M. Abbas on the terms maximally favorable from
Israel's standpoint before the end of G. Bush's presidency. Afterwards,
the new US administration will have to face an accomplished fact.
-
- Arab countries - Egypt, the Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and
Syria have reacted to the situation. In a resolution adopted at its
urgent session, the Arab League condemned Israel's aggression and demanded
to stop it immediately, to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip, and to
call an urgent session of the UN Human Rights Committee. Copies of the
resolution and a suggestion to sever diplomatic ties with Israel until
it stops the aggression were sent to all the countries and organizations
which had taken part in the Annapolis Conference, to the Red Cross, and
to various international humanitarian organizations on the initiative of
Amr Moussa, the current Secretary-General of the Arab League. It was also
decided at the Arab League session that the situation in the Gaza strip
would be discussed at the summit of the Arab countries in Damascus in March,
2008. Israel partially lifted the blockade following the above demands.
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- No doubt, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Middle
East problem in general must be settled as soon as possible. Nor is there
any doubt that terrorist activities targeting Israeli civilians must be
absolutely condemned. Israel's aggression against the civilian Palestinian
population and the kind of a "collective punishment", to which
it is subjected by Israel's air strikes and blockade of the Gaza Strip,
must be condemned as well.
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- There are numerous obstacles in the way of resolving
the Palestinian problem and creating the Palestinian state. Currently,
some of the greatest obstacles are the evident division in the ranks of
the Palestinian movement (a division which emerged with a certain "help"
from Israel and the US) and the de facto diarchy in the Palestinian autonomy.
There are two potential solutions of the problem. One is the negotiations
between Hamas and Fatah, a search for compromise (which Egypt, the Saudi
Arabia, and Sudan tried to broker as intermediaries), and the formation
of a national unity government. The other is bringing down Hamas in the
Gaza strip and restoring full control of M. Abbas's administration over
the entire Palestinian autonomy. It appears that Israel and the US have
decided to pursue the second option and thus to achieve the "final
solution" of the Palestinian issue. The Israeli offensive invokes
a direct analogy with the attempt at the "final solution" of
the Jewish issue by the Nazi during WWII. However, this way hardly
leads to the result desired by Israel.
-
- Should Hamas and its military groups be routed, new underground
Islamist groups will take their place and, quite possibly, resort to an
even more intense terror.
-
- The only feasible option is a search for a compromise,
concessions by both sides, and the recognition of the obvious realia by
the opponents. The realia include Israel's right to exist and the right
of the Palestinians to their own state.
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