At the Erez border post between Israel and Palestinian Gaza there is a two
hundred meter stretch of no-mans land. In recent weeks almost every night
has seen the stretch echo to gunfire. Palestinian mortars have gone one way
over the border and Israeli tanks the other, heightening the sense that the
escalating violence is turning into a low intensity war. Families who have
lived near the border for decades are packing up their belongings on to
scrawny donkeys and moving into tiny half built blocks a few miles down the
road to escape the threat of gunfire and shelling.
More than one million Palestinians live on the Gaza strip 70 % of them are
either refugees or the descendants of refuges living in cramped and
desperate conditions. With an economic blockade already in force, the
Israelis can also at will divide the Gaza strip into 3 heightening the sense
that Gaza is effectively one huge prison breeding more people will to martyr
themselves for the Palestinian cause and support those like Hamas who carry
out terrorist acts against Israel.
The response over recent days by the Palestinians has been to send an almost
daily volley of mortars into Israeli territory, some into Israeli
settlements in Gaza and some into Israeli proper. In turn this has been met
with a forceful Israeli response as Israeli tanks moved for the first time
into land given back as part of the peace process - a development
significant enough to bring a tough warning against Israel by its
traditional supporter the United States.
Secretary of State Colin Powell's
use of the phrase 'disproportionate and excessive force' was diplomatic
speak for 'get out now' and Israeli Prime Minister duly complied. He claimed
that the withdrawal was scheduled but unfortunately he'd failed to
communicate that to one of his senior Generals who'd said forces might
remain in Gaza for months. Hours after he made that statement the tanks were
out making the operation look chaotic and Sharon look like someone who had
caved under pressure. It has also been evident that over the last few days
mortar attacks have been met with more restraint by Israel than usual,
another sign that American pressure may have helped de-escalate the
conflict.
But in the longer term the problems of Gaza do not seem likely to go away.
The more Israel fears it is simply a terrorist base for attacking Israel,
the more Israel will try and shut the Gaza strip down. And that will only
fuel the resentment of the local population who are no strangers to
hardship. The Oslo peace process looks, for the moment, as if it is dead and
buried and it's hard to see how the process can be resuscitated in the near
future.
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