Saturday, November 15, 2008

Cease-fire unravels as Hamas fires rockets on Israel

Hamas
Palestinian supporters of Hamas gather during a demonstration in Gaza City
on Friday as violence escalated between the Islamic group and Israel
By Ethan Bronner and Taghreed El-Khodary Published: November 14, 2008

JERUSALEM: Tensions between Hamas, the radical Palestinian rulers of Gaza, and Israel increased markedly on Friday after Hamas fired a barrage of rockets into southern Israel, sending 18 Israelis to the hospital with shock and mild injuries.

Hamas officials said the attack was revenge for the deaths over the past 11 days of 11 militants and the recent increased Israeli closure of Gaza crossings. They said that while they wanted to continue the five-month-old truce with Israel, it seemed to them that Israel did not and if that was the case, Israel would pay the consequences.

Israeli officials, who say they have been keeping the crossings into Gaza shut in retaliation for the rockets, thereby greatly decreasing the supply of supplies and fuel, said it was Hamas that was breaking the truce. Senior Israeli officials met in Tel Aviv on Friday and vowed not to back down from any provocation.

The confrontations, following five months of relative calm, began to spike earlier this month when the Israeli military destroyed a tunnel being dug toward Israel. The army feared that the tunnel would be used to seize an Israeli soldier as a bargaining chip, like Corporal Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas for more than two years.

The Israelis said it was a one-off operation, not a violation of the ceasefire agreed to in June, and asked Egypt to pass that message to Hamas in advance. But six Hamas militants were killed during the tunnel's destruction, leading Hamas to retaliate with rockets, which led to more closures and operations and then more rockets.

There are several factors at work beyond the tit-for-tat of the past week and a half. Hamas, which took over Gaza in June 2007 by kicking out its Fatah rivals, is feeling under unusual pressure because hundreds of its men have been arrested by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in recent weeks.

The arrests have been part of increased Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in which American-trained Palestinian troops are moving into West Bank cities, leading to some pullback by Israeli troops.

A second factor is that Egyptian efforts to broker a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah have foundered, with Hamas alleging that Fatah had not made good on a mutual prisoner release.

Finally, under American and Israeli pressure, Egypt has started to destroy or shut tunnels into southern Gaza that have been a key source of supplies and fuel — and weapons — that have offset the Israeli closures.

As a result, Hamas is now feeling besieged not only by Israel but by Fatah and Egypt as well.


A campaign against Fatah started on Hamas television in Gaza two days ago, with a countdown of the days until the legal term ends for Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. Abbas has said he will stay in power an extra year but Hamas is trying to pressure him to step down.

A large demonstration was also held on Thursday in Gaza demanding the release of Hamas prisoners in the West Bank.

Israel has come under criticism for shutting off supplies to Gaza in the past 10 days. Oxfam International issued a statement on Friday calling on the world to force Israel to end the closure.

"As a matter of humanitarian imperative, Israeli leaders must resume supplies into Gaza without further delay," the statement, by Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs, said. "If Israelis and Palestinians alike don't exert every effort now to maintain the truce which has held since last June, the result could be catastrophic for civilians both in Gaza and in nearby Israeli towns."

Electricity production has plunged for lack of fuel, leaving much of the coastal strip darkened. Israeli officials suspect there is actually enough fuel, and say that Hamas officials are trying to embarrass them by closing electricity plants.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was scheduled to last for six months, meaning it has another month to go. Both sides are saying they are examining their options as the date approaches.

"We knew when we took out the tunnel that there would be a response and then we would try to get things back to normal," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "We have no desire to see a humanitarian crisis there. Unless the rockets stop, though, how can we move the supplies in? December marks the end of the six-month truce. Are they upping the ante before a new agreement?"

In Gaza, Mahmoud Zahhar, a senior Hamas leader, said, "We are still very committed to the truce. If Israel decides not to be committed, let it declare clearly its position. We have only been responding to their actions. Now, with the renewal date approaching, we are going to evaluate it and the crossings and will decide if we are going on with the truce."

Ethan Bronner reported from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza.

Source: Herald Tribune

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