The roots of the present crisis go back to January 2006 when Hamas, an Islamist movement, won a majority in the first Palestinian parliamentary elections in ten years. Within a few months Western governments imposed financial sanctions on the new government because it would not recognise the state of Israel, rival political centres emerged in Hamas-led Gaza and Fatah-led Ramallah in the West Bank, and fighting erupted between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza in June 2006. In mid-June 2007, after a US-backed campaign to replace it, Hamas seized control of the entire Gaza Strip. The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, as well as the United States and Israel, condemned this as a coup d’etat, and Palestine became divided between two authorities — geographically, ideologically, and politically distinct.
After Hamas’s seizure of Gaza, Israel stepped up its blockade of the territory, including fuel supplies, in the hope of curtailing Hamas’s power. Although Israel had withdrawn troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, it has continued to control most of Gaza’s borders, territorial water, and airspace. Israeli policy did not work, however. Rather, Hamas continued to fire rockets into southern Israel while the impoverishment of the 1.5 million Gazans increased.
This has been the situation for a number of years. What, therefore, precipitated the present crisis? Israel says it is simply defending its citizenry, but in order to do so it must ‘change the political equation’ — turning both the Palestinian population and Arab states against Hamas, though not necessarily toppling it. The ceasefire or ‘calm’ that had prevailed between Hamas and Israel for six months ended on 19 December 2008 when Hamas refused to renew it in response to the worsening effects of the Israeli blockade. Many suspect that timing was everything, however: unsure of what position a President Obama would take, it is likely that the Israelis decided it was better to act now while a more amenable Bush administration was still in office. The holiday period may also have insured that international attention was diverted.
Air strikes began on 27 December in Operation Cast Lead and a land invasion began on 3 January 2009, with over 550 Palestinian and a small handful of Israeli deaths to date. Israel says it is targeting Hamas officials and infrastructure only and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has said that there is no humanitarian crisis. But international observers speak of a badly deteriorating situation with civilian deaths rising. Although there have been calls for an immediate ceasefire, neither the Israeli government nor its principal backer, the United States government, has shown any willingness to move in this direction. As with prior conflicts, a de facto ceasefire will have to be negotiated, but it is unlikely to occur while Israel deems its policy, as it does now, a success. It will certainly not accept Hamas’s pre-condition that the blockade of Gaza end, although a negotiated partial lifting of the blockade is a possibility.
The good professor is diplomatically side stepping a little meltdown in the 6 month calm/truce in early November 2008. At least repeating what I’ve read in numerous mainstream press.
Something like, and you can call this is genuine, or Gulf of Tonkin material as you please – as the nervous end to the truce approached Israel allegedly detected a tunnel heading into Israel: A gambit to kidnap more Israeli soldiers was the IDF pretext for an incursion and 6 Hamas fighters killed. Hamas responded with serious rocket fire. From then the truce was always on the skids it seems. Here is The Guardian story of November 5 08 copied to me, as I’m just an amateur observer:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israelandthepalestinians
entitled: “Gaza truce broken as Israeli raid kills six Hamas gunmen”
and quote
“Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, had personally approved the Gaza raid, the Associated Press said. The Israeli military concluded that Hamas was likely to want to continue the ceasefire despite the raid, it said. The ceasefire was due to run for six months and it is still unclear whether it will stretch beyond that limit.”
It is stated that Israel would give up the fight if Hamas stopped firing and agreed to verifiably disarm.
Israel says she is waging a highly skilled operation to destroy Hamas’ capacity to lob missiles at will into Israeli territory, some with a range of 25 miles. More than 3,000 rockets hit Israel in 2008. More than 500 have struck since Hamas ended a “truce” on Dec. 19.
The UN says Israel’s response is “disproportionate”. As usual, about as much use as a lighthouse in a bog.
The weapons stores must be dismantled and Hamas’ supply routes – tunnels into Gaza from Egypt – must be shut, with oversight to prevent Hamas from rearming.
The issue of international oversight of Gaza’s borders should also be immediately addressed.
The Palestinian State is no longer one but two and is now more than twice the headache.
The ‘beginnings’ of this present conflict could stretch back further than the Palestinian split caused essentially by democracy ie. the will of the people and the solution will unfortunately lie there too. When is enough enough?
What international body would be foolish enough to stand between Hamas and Israel after Hamas invariably lobs another missile into the Jewish sovereign state after the next ceasefire?
And there’s an Israeli election looming.
I am surprised that a respected academic could produce an article such as this, with so many flaws and displaying such a short memory. For example, Israel – not Hamas -broke the truce back in November when it fired a missile into Gaza killing six Palestinians. This barbaric assault on Gaza has been planned for a long time.