Possibility Imagined
Israel: Egypt wants Gaza, Egypt can have Gaza. Reuters:
JERUSALEM, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Israel wants to cut its links with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after militants blasted open the territory’s border with Egypt in defiance of an Israeli blockade, Israel’s deputy defence minister said on Thursday.
Israel, which occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967, pulled troops and settlers out in 2005 but still controls its northern and eastern borders, airspace and coastal waters, and has imposed a blockade it says is meant to counter militant rocket fire.
Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said Israel wanted to wash its hands of Gaza altogether by handing over the supply of electricity, water and medicine to others. An Israeli security official said Egypt should take over responsibility.
“We need to understand that when Gaza is open to the other side we lose responsibility for it. So we want to disconnect from it,” Vilnai said.
Theoretically, that makes Mubarak responsible for rockets flying into Israel. Insidious Zionist plot or disastrous Hamas/Mubarak miscalculation? It will be interesting to see what Israel does the next time one comes flying over the fence. So the Arabs, or one of them, who disowned the terrorist group Hamas, now own it. Fascinating development. I was wondering what the Israeli move was going to be.
Topics: Israel, Palestinians, middle east
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:09 am on Thursday, January 24, 2008
5 Responses to “Possibility Imagined”
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January 24th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Web Reconnaissance for 01/24/2008
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
January 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak has worked very hard to suppress the MB in Egypt. He didn’t want want to take over Gaza, because he didn’t want the MB to get the reinforcements.
But, there is no Palestinian State to control Hamas, nor will there ever be one. If the Palestinians ever really wanted a state, they would have created one some time ago. But states are boring. Create a state and you will have to fix the sewers. No one was trying to stop the Palestinians from fixing the sewers.
Israel is correct. Mubarak will have to take over Gaza and throw Hamas into his jails. Hamas will weep and wish they had been taken to Guantanamo, but the Egyptians will break them.
Gaza will empty out. There is no real good reason for anybody to be there.
Next step for Israel Figure out how to make Jordan take the West Bank back.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Well, I confess I never thought of giving Gaza to Egypt, but it does seem to be a workable strategy. Make the Arabs clean up their own mess, how novel.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
The only reason Israel did not give Gaza back to Egypt in 1979 was that Sadat did not want it. Nor did the Palis want Egyptian rule again. Before the 1967 war the Egyptians kept the Palis imprisoned in their camps in Gaza. It was only when Israel conquered the place that the Israelis allowed the Palis out of their camps to look for work if they wanted it. That’s how their “Arab Brothers” actually treat the Palis, like dirt.
January 25th, 2008 at 12:28 am
That’s how their “Arab Brothers” actually treat the Palis, like dirt.
If it worked for Sadat, it’s good enough for me. Give Gaza back to Egypt….whether they want it or not.