Israel agrees to ease Gaza blockade after protests

[hongi]

I'm a strong supporter of Israel, but the blockade seems to me to be collective punishment - even if it works.

Israel agreed to allow some fuel, medicine and food into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday, at least temporarily easing a blockade that has plunged much of the territory into darkness and sparked international protests.

Monday's decision by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak means the European Union will be allowed to deliver a week's supply of industrial fuel to Gaza's main power plant, which shut down on Sunday. The EU, which funds fuel shipments to the plant, confirmed the delivery would take place on Tuesday.

Israel closed its border crossings with Gaza on Friday in what it said was a bid to make Palestinian militants stop firing rockets into southern Israel. Large parts of Gaza, home to 1.5 million people, have since lost power as hospitals cancelled non-essential surgery and local residents stockpiled food.

The EU and international agencies called the Israeli measures "collective punishment," which is banned under the Geneva Conventions.

Israel countered that conditions in Gaza never reached crisis levels and accused Hamas of exaggerating the impact of the closure.

Especially when the PM says this sort of stuff:

"As far as I'm concerned, all the residents of Gaza can walk and have no fuel for their cars, because they have a murderous terrorist regime that doesn't allow people in the south of Israel to live in peace," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said before Barak's decision was announced.

[hongi]

Woops, forgot the link.

[MKSheppard]

Something like 150~ rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza within the space of roughly a week last week or something; I think that has something to do with the blockade...The Israelis have gotten tired of contionous random rocket fire.

[Thanas]

Bah. Same old, same old.

Both sides unwilling to listen to rational argument because of religious fanaticism and deep-rooted rascism, so things like that are not very surprising. Merely just the next level - from projectiles to blockades and vice versa.

[Wanderer]

Something like 150~ rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza within the space of roughly a week last week or something; I think that has something to do with the blockade...The Israelis have gotten tired of contionous random rocket fire.

Then they need to stop fucking with the Palestinians and accept that they will either have to make them citizens with full rights or be out fought as Hamas becomes more like the Islamic Resistance wing of Hezbollah in it efficiency at waging war.

One way allows Jews to remain the other will see them forced from the area.

[Ace Pace]

Something like 150~ rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza within the space of roughly a week last week or something; I think that has something to do with the blockade...The Israelis have gotten tired of contionous random rocket fire.

Then they need to stop fucking with the Palestinians and accept that they will either have to make them citizens with full rights or be out fought as Hamas becomes more like the Islamic Resistance wing of Hezbollah in it efficiency at waging war.

One way allows Jews to remain the other will see them forced from the area.

Israel left Gaza in 2005, they left it with everything intact. Houses, greenhouses, a road network. Hamas moved in and overnight destroyed it all.
Nearly right away, the rocket firing continued, unabated. Israel pretty much folded in 2005, gave them the entire Gaza stripe. It got nothing in return except for more artillary fire.

Israels so far tried several methods of playing with Hamas there, everything from ignoring them, giving them what they want, assasinations, ground incursions. Now, instead of risking more soldier lives(good or bad depending on PoV), they've decided they'll just cut power.

The west bank doesn't fire rockets, they've given up on suicide bombers. They have their share of fuckups(shooting up IDF soldiers by the goverment among them), and look what they got? Money, power, less restrictions(theres alot of work to be done there).

Olmert has also grown a spine, because he's in what will be the last few weeks of his term. Winograd report is going to come out and take him down. Unfortunatly, only him and not the entire current political structure.

[MKSheppard]

Here's a fun fact; that power plant in Gaza which ran out of fuel (supposedly); only generates 1/3rd or so of Gaza's power; Israel is still supplying 75~ of Gaza's Daily electrical needs, and Egypt about 5%.

Israel just cut their supply allowance to Gaza by 20%.

[Sarevok]

Then they need to stop fucking with the Palestinians and accept that they will either have to make them citizens with full rights or be out fought as Hamas becomes more like the Islamic Resistance wing of Hezbollah in it efficiency at waging war.

One way allows Jews to remain the other will see them forced from the area.

Israel left Gaza in 2005, they left it with everything intact. Houses, greenhouses, a road network. Hamas moved in and overnight destroyed it all.
Nearly right away, the rocket firing continued, unabated. Israel pretty much folded in 2005, gave them the entire Gaza stripe. It got nothing in return except for more artillary fire.

Israels so far tried several methods of playing with Hamas there, everything from ignoring them, giving them what they want, assasinations, ground incursions. Now, instead of risking more soldier lives(good or bad depending on PoV), they've decided they'll just cut power.

The west bank doesn't fire rockets, they've given up on suicide bombers. They have their share of fuckups(shooting up IDF soldiers by the goverment among them), and look what they got? Money, power, less restrictions(theres alot of work to be done there).

Olmert has also grown a spine, because he's in what will be the last few weeks of his term. Winograd report is going to come out and take him down. Unfortunatly, only him and not the entire current political structure.

I don't understand Israel's intention.

You guys clearly are not genocidal like your enemies would like to believe. Infact as far as occupiers go Israel has been a better occupier of foreign land than many native goverments.Clearly Israel has no intention to solve the Palestine crisis by force. What baffles me is Israel has no intention to solve it at all ! It seems Israel is quite happy to continue the current situation decade after decade...

[Kanastrous]

I don't think happy figures into it.

The Israelis have worked their way into the position of holding a wolf by the ears. Letting go is desirable. Letting go safely is a problem.

[Ace Pace]

I don't understand Israel's intention.

You guys clearly are not genocidal like your enemies would like to believe. Infact as far as occupiers go Israel has been a better occupier of foreign land than many native goverments.Clearly Israel has no intention to solve the Palestine crisis by force. What baffles me is Israel has no intention to solve it at all ! It seems Israel is quite happy to continue the current situation decade after decade...

Because there are no intentions. Thats the gigantic fuckup regarding Israeli policy in the Occupied territories. There is no such thing as govermental policy papers on the future of the west bank, theres no national consensus on the status of these territories. Basically, everything stems from a two hour conferance during the 1967 deciding to take the west bank. Yes, two hours.

The brain boggles.

[Sea Skimmer]

Yes, two hours.

The brain boggles.

Not really, they had that conference while Jordanian artillery was already shelling Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in case you forgot. The real stupidity was King Hussein believing Nasser’s bullshit about winning great victories in the Sinai.

[Ace Pace]

Yes, two hours.

The brain boggles.

Not really, they had that conference while Jordanian artillery was already shelling Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in case you forgot. The real stupidity was King Hussein believing Nasser’s bullshit about winning great victories in the Sinai.

True, but from what I recall, there was little to no consideration to what would be done with the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who were already living there. Israel tried to side step the issue by annexing only part of the lands around Jerusalem. But this doesn't change the fact theres zero policy around the settlements. Just day to day changes.

[hongi]

Is there a reason why Gaza gets so much of its electricity needs from Israel and not Egypt, who supplies aronund 8%?

[Sea Skimmer]

1) Egypt doesn’t give one shit about Gaza and wants as little to do with the place (which they pretty much created back in 1948) as possible. They have there own slew of internal problems to deal with already. Notice how Egypt often goes along with Israeli blockades and closes the boarder crossing it controls.

2) The Sinai is not very developed and unlikely to have any great surplus of electric to send in the first place. Israel is wealthier per capita and has a big power station a mere 10km up the coast from Gaza, its had rockets fired at it funny enough.

[hongi]

2) The Sinai is not very developed and unlikely to have any great surplus of electric to send in the first place. Israel is wealthier per capita and has a big power station a mere 10km up the coast from Gaza, its had rockets fired at it funny enough.

Just for clarification, Gaza buys the surplus electricity right? Thanks.

It's hilarious in a way, because so many Muslim are beating on Israel for them cutting the fuel supplies. I was tempted to ask them why the Palestinian territories don't ask Egypt or the other Arab states for help, and they'd have to grudgingly admit that the Arab states don't care. I still don't think Israel did the right thing by cutting the fuel, but at least it wasn't as bad as two years ago when they blew the Gaza power plant up.

[Jadeite]

In highly related news:

Tens of Thousands Cross Downed Gaza Wall
By IBRAHIM BARZAK – 9 hours ago

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Masked gunmen destroyed about two-thirds of the metal wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the town of Rafah and tens of thousands of Palestinians poured across the border to buy supplies made scarce by an Israeli blockade of the impoverished territory.

The gunmen began breaching the border wall dividing Rafah before dawn, according to witnesses and Hamas officials, who told The Associated Press that they had closed all but two of the gaps in the wall. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said they were allowed free movement through the open gaps.

Thousands of Gazans began crossing into Egypt and returning with milk, cigarettes and plastic bottles of fuel, the Hamas officials and witnesses said.

An Associated Press reporter arrived after first light and saw that about two-thirds of the seven-mile-long wall at Rafah had been demolished. The reporter also saw the crowd of Palestinians crossing into Egypt swell into the tens of thousands.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Masked gunmen blew holes in the wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt early Wednesday and thousands of Palestinians poured across the border to buy supplies made scarce by an Israeli blockade of the impoverished territory.

Egyptian guards and police from the militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, stood by without taking action.

Israel transferred fuel to restart Gaza's only electricity plant Tuesday, easing its five-day blockade of the Palestinian territory amid growing international concern about a humanitarian crisis.

But before dawn the next day, Palestinian gunmen began breaching the border wall dividing the town of Rafah, which has a Gazan and an Egyptian side.

The identity of the gunmen who breached the border was not immediately clear. But Hamas expressed support for the move, saying, "Blowing up the border wall with Egypt is a reflection of the ... catastrophic situation which the Palestinian people in Gaza are living through due to the blockade."

Hamas security closed all but two of the holes, through which it allowed free movement. Gazans began crossing into Egypt and returning with milk, cigarettes and plastic bottles of fuel.

Gazan Ibrahim Abu Taha, 45, a father of seven, was in the Egyptian section of Rafah with his two brothers and $185 in his pocket.

"We want to buy food, we want to buy rice and sugar, milk and wheat and some cheese," Abu Taha told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that he would also buy cheap Egyptian cigarettes.

Abu Taha said he could get such items in Gaza, but at three times the cost.

Faced with a crippling Israeli blockade, Hamas appears to be applying pressure on Egypt, which has cooperated with Israel's sanctions by keeping the Rafah border closed.

An off-duty Hamas security officer who identified himself as Abdel Rahman, 29, said this was his first time out of Gaza.

"I can smell the freedom," he said by phone. "We need no border after today."

Abdel Rahman said no weapons were being smuggled in from Egypt.

"You can buy weapons in Gaza, guns and RPGs," he said, adding that it was easier to find weapons in Gaza than cancer medicine or Coke.

Weapons are generally brought into Gaza through smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

The U.S. had warned Israel not to add to the hardship for ordinary Palestinians but blamed the problem on Hamas. Israel imposed the siege in response to increasing rocket attacks on its border communities by Gaza militants.

Despite the easing of the closure, Palestinian militants fired 19 rockets toward Israel on Tuesday, the military said, up from just two on Monday.

The lights were back on in most of Gaza City by Tuesday afternoon after a blackout that lasted almost two days. But Gazans still vented their anger throughout the day.

Hundreds of Hamas supporters briefly broke through the Gaza-Egypt border and clashed with Egyptian riot police who fired in the air, wounding 70 people on both sides. The protesters hurled insults at Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, calling him a coward.

In a clash early Wednesday with Israeli forces near the closed Sufa crossing into Gaza, a Hamas militant was killed, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military said soldiers exchanged fire with Palestinian militants in the area.

Throughout the closure, which cut power to a third of Gaza's 1.5 million people, hospitals kept running on generators. But most bakeries shut down, and long lines formed at those that were open. A shipment of cooking gas sent in by Israel on Tuesday sold out in an hour.

Governments, aid agencies and the U.N. issued urgent appeals for an end to the closure. Israel's Defense Ministry ruled late Tuesday that 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel will be transferred into Gaza daily, but the crossings will remain closed to other goods and people until further notice.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni blamed Hamas.

"I am not among those who care whether this or that group fired a rocket," she told the annual Herzliya Conference on security. "Hamas has control of the territory, and Hamas is responsible."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration has spoken to Israeli officials "about the importance of not allowing a humanitarian crisis to unfold." Israeli officials were receptive, she said, adding that she too blames Hamas for the situation.

Despite the blockade, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will not pull out of peace talks. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised President Bush to try to complete a peace accord this year.

"We should intensify our contacts and our meetings to stop the suffering of our people," Abbas said in his first comment since the latest round of Israel-Hamas fighting erupted last week.

Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, is not a party to the talks.