Associated Press- September 19, 2007
JERUSALEM – Israel declared the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip an “enemy entity” on Wednesday and said it would cut utilities to the territory, complicating the U.S. plan to relaunch peace talks aimed at establishing a separate Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel made the provocative decision hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived for talks setting up what President George W. Bush hopes will be a pivotal international Mideast peace conference this fall.
Rice neither endorsed nor criticized Israel’s move.
Israel did not announce a date for cutoff of services. The decision is likely to reinforce perceptions among Palestinians and their Arab backers that Israel will do as it sees fit regardless of the cost to civilians, and that the U.S. will not block Israel’s hand.
Rice said the United States is trying to help both sides reach “common understanding,” but she did not say if the U.S.-sponsored peace meeting will address the hardest issues in the six-decade conflict between Israelis and the Palestinians, including the final borders of a Palestinians state.
The United States has not said exactly what it wants to achieve from the summit, nor who will attend.
Rice wants to recruit Arab states to reinforce the Palestinians in any deal they cut with Israel, but the peace session will carry little weight if key regional players such as Saudi Arabia choose to sit it out. The session also has little chance of success if Israel is seen as unwilling to make hard concessions to the Palestinians, and the United States is seen an unable to force Israel’s hand.
The U.S.-sponsored conference is meant to invigorate peace efforts that largely lay fallow during Bush’s presidency, and set clear guidelines for formation of a Palestinian state.
The Gaza designation overshadowed any public talk of peace prospects as Rice began two days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Israel said the cutbacks are meant to force Palestinian militants in Gaza to halt Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns from launching sites in Gaza.
The decision lets Israel cut electricity, water and other services that the impoverished, crowded coastal territory depends on Israel to provide.
The “enemy entity” designation could open the way for the most severe retaliatory measure yet. Israel has been carrying out airstrikes and limited ground strikes. It also has sealed Gaza’s borders, halting trade in and out of the area, while permitting little more than humanitarian aid into the area.
Hamas militants who hold de facto control in Gaza have not been directly involved in the rocket attacks, but the movement has done little to halt the fire. Israel says it holds the group responsible.
Rice tried to tread carefully at a press conference with her Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Grim-faced, Rice said the United States will not turn its back on civilians in Gaza, and added that Hamas “is a hostile entity to the United States as well.”
The Israeli designation covers all of Gaza, not just Hamas militants who took control of the territory in June. The United States and Israel regard Hamas as a terrorist organization and refuse to deal with it.
Livni said Israel was not obliged to deliver anything to Gaza beyond humanitarian aid.
“When it comes to the humanitarian needs, we have our own responsibilities,”
Livni said. “All the needs which are more than humanitarian needs will not be supplied by Israel to Gaza Strip.”
Livni said the decision is legal, but international aid groups called it unacceptable to blame civilians for the actions of rogue militants.
Gisha, a human rights group that works for greater freedom of movement in Gaza, called the action “immoral and illegal, constituting prohibited collective punishment of civilians.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate leader on whom Rice and Israel have pinned reinvigorated hopes for peace, quickly condemned the Israeli move.
“This oppressive decision will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increase their suffering and deepen their tragedy,” Abbas’ office said in a statement.
Abbas is locked in a bitter rivalry with Hamas, which overran his forces from his Fatah movement and seized control of Gaza. The takeover ended more than a year of paralysis in Palestinian politics, as Fatah and Hamas vied for primacy in a divided government and international aid dried up.
Abbas has installed a new government in the larger and more populous West Bank, but still claims authority over Gaza. An independent Palestinian state would include both territories, which lie on either side of Israel.
Rice met with a long list of Israeli officials on Wednesday, including the defense chief, Ehud Barak, who has hinted that Israel may have to relaunch military operations in Gaza more than two years after a unilateral pullout of Israeli forces and settlers.
Rice was seeing Abbas and other West Bank Palestinian leaders on Thursday.
Associated Press writers Laurie Copans and Aron Heller contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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posted September 19, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Israel has had a terrible time with this area since David, and when they called Gaza Philistia. Their champion was as impressive at violence as Hamas. But David vanquished the Philistines once (and sided with them as well!), and I expect David’s heirs will do so again.
As a great sage once said, “History does not always repeat itself, but it does often rhyme”.
posted September 19, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Israel has rarely if ever seen an opportunity for peace it didn’t find a way to sabotage. Of course one or two of the Palestinian groups have dirty hands there too. But they generally have not represented their whole people like the Israeli government does.
posted September 20, 2007 at 12:12 am
“But they generally have not represented their whole people like the Israeli government does.”
Yes, and when they DID have a chance to choose their own government, that worked out SO well. @@
The Mideast gets so annoying…Palestinians continue to launch rockets into Israel. Israel decides to stop giving them free electricity. Which makes perfect sense, but of course it will just give the Palestinians ANOTHER reason to hate Israel, which will lead to more rockets, which will lead to more Israeli crackdowns…oy.
God bless.
posted September 20, 2007 at 11:00 am
nnmns
You make it sound like Israel and the Red Sox have a bit too much in common. I guess the comparison to the Yankees as Goliath is part of the same scenario. Well, it happened for David the Shepherd and it happened for the Sox almost 3 years ago, so maybe it can happen again.
Peace in our time! OK, Peace some time! Or simply, peace.
posted September 20, 2007 at 11:27 am
Joey, you seem to have fallen into the belief, which given US media coverage of the Israel-Palestinian situation over the decades would be easy, that Palestinian groups launch rockets on Israel out of general cussedness and whenever Israel kills Palestinians it’s always retaliation. But if you think about it, the Palestinian attacks are retaliation for the Israeli attacks (and cut-offs of commerce, etc. at Palestinian borders and building roads and walls and seizing of yet more Palestinian land, etc.) also so there’s a long regression of tit for more or less tat, and the Palestinians have always come out the worst; more killed, more commerce shut down, little or no military aid, etc.
And of course the Palestinians don’t have a military to defend them so those who do defend them and/or retaliate are labeled “gunmen” and terrorists in our press. But there are way more Palestinians killed in exchanges than Israelis so fairness would dictate viewing the Israeli military on at least as low a level of thuggishness.
So, while there are, as I said, people on both sides who think they profit from the present situation and can so easily prolong it, the Palestinian people have a lot more to gain from an equitable peace.
posted September 22, 2007 at 8:38 pm
nnmsn, if you only had a clue about what life is like in Sderot, maybe you’d stop your relentless defense of Palestinians and realize that they need to act like in order to be considered partners for peace.
Further, it’s a huge mistake to underestimate the resources the militant Palestinians have at their disposal, being funded by several terror supporting, anti-american, anti-israeli middle-east countries.
Israel constanlty uses a remarkable level of restraint when fired upon and very often does little more than just watch while viewing the Gazans set up their rocket launchers to aim at Sderot and other southern Israeli commuunities.
Having relatives that live in the area as well as other reasons I won’t reveal make me comfortable making these statement.
Try going to websites like memri.org, and honest reporting if you want an unbiased view.
posted September 23, 2007 at 7:05 pm
There is a difference, (much like any other group), in militant Palestinians and Palestine citizens. I’m sure it would be a lot easier for Israel and supporters if that was not considered a reality. But it is much like anyone most Palestinians would just like to make it through the work week get their kids an education better than theirs and watch a good movie with their loveones.
posted September 23, 2007 at 8:02 pm
“I’m sure it would be a lot easier for Israel and supporters if that was not considered a reality. ”
What exactly are you trying to say here? It sounds like you are saying that Israel and her supporters do not believe there is a difference between “most” Palestinians and militant ones, and therefore, indiscriminantly fire upon Palestinian territory. Please explain.
posted September 24, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I am sensing a basic problem here. We talk about supporting one group or another like we are sending money to faceless, mindless, heartless corporations. Quite the contrary! To which ever group our support is thrown, we are giving to people who are effecting the lives, livelihoods, and neighborhoods of other people. This is not simply national factions and political parties. The support translates into weapons, and that is NEVER good, beneficial, or progressive – no matter who gets them. I have not seen either side demonstarte an ability to renounce violence, retribution, or vengeance. So, phooey on the lot of them.
I suggest we withold all support and encourage others to do the same. ALSO, we need to tax weapons exporters so heavily that it becomes too expensive for them to sell the junk to either side. Better, yet, if they INSIST on selling the weapons without the tax, they can do so ONLY if their families live in the countries to which the weapons are being sent. Now that I think of it, I believe this should be true for politicians, too. You want to support one side or the other, go share in their sturggle.
Sure, like THAT is going to happen!