Israel: Gaza a "Hostile Entity"

Post by **Surlethe** » 2007-09-19 09:07am

BBC wrote:The Israeli government has declared the Gaza Strip a "hostile entity" in response to the continued rocket attacks by Palestinian militants there.

The decision could lead to Israel cutting off vital water, fuel or electricity supplies to the territory.

The militant group, Hamas, which controls Gaza, said such a move would be considered a declaration of war.

Israeli public pressure for retaliation has grown since a rocket hit an army base last Tuesday, injuring 69 troops.

Palestinian militant groups say the rocket fire is a response to Israeli military action in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel announced its decision as the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, arrived in Jerusalem for talks about re-starting the Middle East peace process.

International law

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said his security cabinet had approved the "hostile entity" classification at a meeting on Wednesday morning.

It is a declaration of war and continues the criminal, terrorist Zionist actions against our people
Fawzi Barhoum
Hamas spokesman

A spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that there would be "limitations on imports to the Gaza Strip and a reduction in the supply of fuel and electricity".

The sanctions will be implemented after Israeli authorities have examined the legal and humanitarian consequences, the spokesperson added.

Israeli officials reportedly hope the new measures will put pressure on Hamas, which ousted its rivals Fatah to seize control of Gaza in June, to halt rocket attacks on southern Israel.

"The objective is to weaken Hamas," Defence Minister Ehud Barak said at the meeting, an Israeli official told the Associated Press.

A spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, condemned the decision.

"It is a declaration of war and continues the criminal, terrorist Zionist actions against our people," he said.

"They aim to starve our people and force them to accept humiliating formulas that could emerge from the so-called November peace conference," he added, referring to the US-sponsored talks expected later this year.

Correspondents say that by formally declaring Gaza "hostile", Israel could argue that it is no longer bound by international law governing the administration of occupied territory to supply utilities to its 1.5 million inhabitants.

But the current position is that, under international law, Israel remains legally responsible for the coastal strip, despite withdrawing two years ago, because it still controls Gaza's borders, air space and territorial waters.

Posted without comment because I need to shower and go to class.

Resinence · Post by **Resinence** » 2007-09-19 09:37am

Cutting off electricity and fuel is a declaration of war, but a rocket attack on a military target killing over 50 soldiers is not? The hypocrisy is stunning.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2007-09-19 10:08am

Correspondents say that by formally declaring Gaza "hostile", Israel could argue that it is no longer bound by international law governing the administration of occupied territory to supply utilities to its 1.5 million inhabitants.

In that case, I'm sure they'll let the Red Cross/Red Crescent and other relief agencies in, right?

Maybe this is just Israel's way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Shatila and Sabran.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2007-09-19 01:15pm

It is a declaration of war and continues the criminal, terrorist Zionist actions against our people

The elected goverment of Gaza have been waging war on Israel since before it took office, what are DoWs among cousines?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2007-09-19 01:45pm

Reuters article.

GAZA (Reuters) - Masked gunmen crouch behind piles of sand, fingers on the triggers of their rifles, while others rig explosives along the streets of Gaza.

The Hamas-run Gaza Strip is bracing for a major incursion by Israeli forces after the Jewish state labeled the territory an "enemy entity" on Wednesday, a move the Islamist group described as a declaration of war.

Wearing brightly colored headbands, hundreds of militants have taken up positions along the border fence with Israel and in Gaza city whilst ordinary people shovel sand into bags to use as barriers to block any invading troops.

"The preparations by militants gave us the feeling the Israelis are about to invade any minute," said taxi driver Khaled Ali, as militants flagged him down at a checkpoint. "God forbid, if Israel invaded there would be a massacre."

Israel said on Wednesday it would reduce its fuel and power supplies to Gaza and would continue military activity and "targeted killings" in the territory after a rocket fired by militants hurt some three dozen Israeli soldiers last week.

Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June after fighting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction, said the move was tantamount to declaring war.

"We will not surrender and we will fight together with all our people," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

"WE WILL FACE THEM WITH DEATH"

Militants in Gaza regularly fire rockets into Israel and Israeli forces have raided the enclave, from which troops and Jewish settlers were evacuated two years ago.

Israel, which retains tight control of Gaza's air, land and sea borders, has so far opted for targeted incursions rather than a broad offensive, which could cause heavy casualties on both sides. But Hamas forces have been bracing for tougher reprisals after last week's strike on the army base.

Militants from factions aligned to Hamas and other political groups started preparing for a possible incursion a few days ago, holding training sessions for gunmen and planting explosives at night which are defused at dawn.

They beefed up security ahead of Wednesday's Israeli security cabinet meeting to foil any surprise attack.

"We have God at our side and God is greater than Israel and America," said Abu Ahmed, spokesman of the Islamic Jihad armed wing, which claimed joint responsibility for last week's rocket attack. "We will face them with death," he told Reuters.

Some Gazans said a confrontation with Israel could alleviate factional tensions between Hamas and Fatah by forcing the rivals to units to fight their common foe.

Abu Thaer, a spokesman for Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said all groups should unite against Israel because the "enemy's fire does not differentiate between Hamas and Fatah".

"A raid will make Hamas and Fatah brothers fight against the Zionist enemy," Abu Thaer said.

Supermarket owner Ali, a Fatah supporter who declined to give his full name, agreed.

"A war with Israel may stop or at least put aside the internal conflicts," he told Reuters as he served customers.

"HELL OF GAZA"

But there was no immediate sign of an end to tensions between Hamas and Fatah as the Islamist group blamed its rivals for a series of bomb attacks against its headquarters in Gaza and accused some Fatah officials of conspiring with Israel.

Two Hamas Executive Force members were shot and wounded by unknown gunmen in a Gaza refugee camp on Wednesday, witnesses and the group said. No one immediately claimed responsibility but residents said Hamas forces detained dozens of Fatah supporters in the camp after the shooting.

Gaza political analyst Hani Habib said he doubted an Israeli military attack would end Palestinian factional hostilities.

"Theoretically an Israeli assault should unite factions, but practically we have seen this is not the case with Palestinian groups," Habib said, noting factional violence continued last May amid tensions with Israel.

Already struggling with political infighting and an economic meltdown caused by border blockades, ordinary Gazans were braced for the worst.

"There is no escape from the hell of Gaza," said Abu Ali, owner of a clothes store. "Israel is the cause of all our miseries but Abbas and Hamas are responsible too."

Some commentators noted Israel may hold off on a major invasion of Gaza for fear of bolstering Hamas, which rallied support among Palestinians for its strident opposition to Israeli occupation of Gaza and the larger West Bank.

"For that reason I could not think Israel would rush into large scale raid into Gaza," Habib said.

"Hamas is in crisis and Israel will not rush to rescue it."

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2007-09-19 01:51pm

Another day, another stupid and extremely fucking pointless war caused by religion. I seriously hope both sides come to their senses before the shit hits the fan, but I can count on it 99% that the shitheads won't.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2007-09-19 01:59pm

So, Hamas is being a douchebag again and Israel calls them on it.

Why wasn't Gaza considered a "hostile entity" as soon as Hamas took over?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2007-09-19 02:17pm

Matt Huang wrote:So, Hamas is being a douchebag again and Israel calls them on it.

Why wasn't Gaza considered a "hostile entity" as soon as Hamas took over?

Because the EU would have a shitfest over what that means, and would not rescind their support from the Hamas. As it stands now, Hamas is isolated.

Battlehymn Republic · Post by **Battlehymn Republic** » 2007-09-19 06:55pm

So, who was more responsible for the split in the PLO, Hamas or Fatah?

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2007-09-19 07:09pm

Now if we could just find some nice way to evacuate all the civilians to the west bank, let the IDF go in an kill every one of the Hamas members who want a fight, then let the PLO take back Gaza...we at least might have the beginnings of a start of a stable situation.

*sigh*

Yeah, the place is still a mess...

Block · Post by **Block** » 2007-09-19 07:40pm

Battlehymn Republic wrote:So, who was more responsible for the split in the PLO, Hamas or Fatah?

Fatah will claim it was Hamas, Hamas will claim it was Fatah. No one's really sure who fired the first shots, although it's believed that Hamas was encouraged to further violent acts by Israel's pull out of Gaza, and Fatah saw it as a small step towards an actual peace process. Einhander, in what way is Israel fighting over religion in this case? They declared Gaza and Hamas a hostile entity because of repeated rocket attacks, sometimes as many as 50 in a day, over the past several months. If the US or any European country were attacked in such a manner, I doubt there would be such restraint.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-09-20 06:50am

Was Gaza not intended for Israelis settlement anyway and happened to be included after one of the Egyptian border skirmishes back in the early 1970s? The place is a shitpit due to Egypt not accepting the Palestinian Arabs into their country and Israel being a dick in using the giant refugee camp as a security zone to stomp about in, if the refugees there cause too much trouble.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2007-09-20 07:43am

Battlehymn Republic wrote:So, who was more responsible for the split in the PLO, Hamas or Fatah?

Hamas was never a member of the PLO IIRC. That is the main reason the Palestinian democracy only worked as long as the right side won.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2007-09-20 04:46pm

Hamas has nothing to do with the PLO; it was founded independently in Gaza in 1987. The PLO was founded in 1964 by the Arab League and in fact when first founded it didn’t even have a Palestinian state as a goal!

Big Orange wrote:Was Gaza not intended for Israelis settlement anyway and happened to be included after one of the Egyptian border skirmishes back in the early 1970s?

No. Gaza was assigned to the Arabs in Palestinian under the 1947 partition plan, and the planned size of Gaza was rather larger then it is today, it ran up the coast for about 15 extra miles, and reached east to just barely touch the west bank. In addition a strip ran down the boarder with Egypt. The Arab population however was not very large, and didn’t mobilize the same way the Jews did, so the current boarder’s of Gaza reflected the perimeter they could actually defend once the offensive by regular Arab armies collapsed due to absurd incompetence.

In 1956 Israel overran Gaza fairly easily; a couple French cruisers offshore helping a great deal short but at the end of that war Israel withdrew completely. In 1967 Gaza’s local population manned an entire regular division in the Egyptian Army and had extensive formations along with heavy tank and artillery support, but it still took only about two days to overrun the entire place. Up until this point, Gaza was effectively part of Egypt.

Israel occupied Gaza without interruption from 1967-2005 Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David accords in 1978, but Egypt sure as shit did not want Gaza back; they knew it was nothing but trouble. Settlement in Gaza did not begin until the 1980s. Prior to then some Jews did settle in the empty wastes of the Sinai, only a few hundred if IIRC, and they where all forced to leave under the 1978 peace deal.

So basically Gaza never had more then a slight bit of control over its own affairs until 2005, and before 1947 the area really only had small towns, so it should surprise no one that they can’t form an effective government, one way or the other. Even without the terrorists being voted into office the place would still be really screwed up.