Differential treatment of Gaza and West Bank
June 21st, 2007 by ashish
Well, it’s official. The takeover by Hamas of the Gaza strip; the executions of Fatah men and the bloody fighting got Abbas to burn the bridges with Hamas, and the Palestinian lands are now divided. And Israel has cemented this division, by attacking Hamas in the Gaza strip and opening contacts with the new Palestinian Government in the West Bank.
Israel attacked Islamist fighters in Gaza yesterday for the first time since Hamas seized the territory, and ended an embargo of the Palestinian Authority by opening contacts with a new government in the West Bank.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni made Israel’s first high-level diplomatic contact with the emergency Cabinet formed by Abbas in the West Bank after last week’s fighting. Livni told Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a telephone conversation that the establishment of his emergency Cabinet would allow “progress on various issues … as well as advance the political process”.
This seems to be part of the overall strategy. The Fatah movement will be armed by Israel and maybe Arab states and the US, and all restrictions will be removed from the West Bank. In the meatime, Gaza, under the control of a declared terrorist organization, Hamas, will be isolated; maybe some food will be allowed in, but nothing otherwise.
Israel can contain Israel, with power restrictions, border controls, and raids when needed. The idea would be to weaken Hamas, such that the people of Gaza get fed up of it, and Fatah is able to take over the territory. Israel would not want a direct attritatuble role in the removal of Hamas, but will not tolerate Gaza being run by Hamas for long. It will be a direct question on the security of Israel.
