Another torpedoing of peace initiatives by Palestinians: Israel gives cold shoulder to Hamas' rocket-cessation statement

www.chinaview.cn
2009-11-22 21:08:20

by David Harris

JERUSALEM, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hamas announced on Saturday it reached an agreement with other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to only fire rockets against Israeli targets in response to any future Israeli military incursion into the coastal enclave.

Just hours after the Hamas statement, Israel responded to a rocket attack fired from Gaza earlier on Saturday. Israeli aircraft targeted what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said were two weapons-making facilities in northern and central Gaza and one smuggling tunnel under the border between Gaza and Egypt.

ROCKET FIRE FROM GAZA

Fathi Hamad, interior minister of the deposed Hamas government ruling Gaza announced the rocket attacks cessation agreement during a meeting with journalists in Gaza on Saturday afternoon.

Islamic Jihad, then, issued a statement denying that it was a signatory to any such understanding.

Israel's reaction to the Hamas statement has been minimal. "We will judge them by their actions, not by their words," an Israeli official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

However, just as the weekly cabinet meeting was underway Sunday in Jerusalem, the IDF did issue a statement regarding rocket fire.

"Nearly 270 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel since the end of Operation Cast Lead on Jan. 18, 2009, in comparison to over 3,300 rockets and mortars fired in the year before the operation. The last month had seen approximately 15 rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel from Gaza," said the statement.

"The IDF will not tolerate any attacks by terror organizations against Israel and its citizens," added the statement.

Israel launched what it dubbed Operation Cast Lead in December in retaliation for what it claimed thousands of rockets fired from Gaza over a period of some seven years.

During the 22-day military operation, as many as 1,300 Palestinians were killed, though Israel questions the number of civilians Palestinian officials said died during the fighting.

Both Israel and Hamas have been accused of possibly committing war crimes in the Goldstone Report, which was compiled by a UN committee headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone.

BEHIND HAMAS' STATEMENT

Analysts believe there are a number of key reasons for Hamas's decision to hold rocket fire.

Naji Shurab, professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, said Hamas wants to show Gaza residents that it takes the reins of the strip, but it will not negotiate directly with Israel.

As a result, it made the declaration in order to show it can keep Gazans safe, he said.

"If you want to keep your authority, you know that you have to guarantee that there is no threat to your strength, government or authority," said Shurab.

Moshe Marzuk, a researcher at the International Institute of Counter-terrorism at Israel's Interdisciplinary Center, said that show of strength is not only aimed at Gaza, but also intended to deliver a message to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

The PNA headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah, Hamas' bitter rival, holds sway in the West Bank.

Hamas is hoping that when elections are held in the West Bank sometime next year, support for Hamas will increase and will deal a damaging and possibly fatal blow to Abbas' political career.

Marzuk believes that Hamas is trying to tell voters that its modus operandi achieves more for the Palestinians than that of Fatah and the PNA.

Without negotiating directly with Israel, Hamas is trying to ensure a long-term stability for Gazans and it appears it will soon take the limelight with the release of some 1,000 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

Both Shurab and Marzuk see a direct connection to the ongoing talks between Israel and Hamas regarding the possible upcoming exchange of prisoners.

Germany is currently mediating a mechanism for the swap of the Palestinians for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas more than three years ago.

Shurab also highlighted what he believes Hamas' desire to be recognized as a credible player on the diplomatic scene. By showing it can act as an efficient government and not launch attacks on Israel, it hopes it will be treated as a serious regional player.

TO JUDGE BY DEEDS

Shurab did not believe that the announcement from Islamic Jihad is a bad news. Hamas "can keep security, can keep peace on the border between Gaza and Israel and can keep any Palestinian militia from launching missiles against Israel," he said.

But Marzuk disagreed, saying, "Of course Hamas is in control, but not 100 percent. There's no such thing."

Islamic Jihad and a couple of factions linked to Jihad have ways to bypass Hamas and launch attacks against Israel, according to Marzuk.

The rocket launches in the past few days are a clear attempt by these organizations to scupper the prisoner-exchange deal between Hamas and Israel, he said.

All the while Israel monitors the situation with more than a little passing interest.

Despite the relative quiet in the past few months compared to the situation in 2008, Israeli radars and warning systems still encircle Gaza and residents of the towns and villages nearby still speak of their fear each time another rocket is fired in their direction.

While Israel will not comment specifically on the Hamas statement regarding the cessation of rocket fire, it is very clear that it will retaliate anything it perceives as a terrorist activity -- that includes aerial attacks like those carried out overnight between Saturday and Sunday.

"It's clear that Israel will judge Hamas by its deeds," said Marzuk, adding that Hamas knows full well that if it does not rein in the attacks, Operation Cast Lead will most definitely not be the last Israeli military strike against Gaza.


Israel doesn't want peace because it knows peace means stopping Israel's further land grabs of Palestinian territory. What Israel really wants is all of Palestine with Palestinians removed, "transported" to Jordan or anywhere else but their own homeland which Zionists believe rightfully belongs to European Jews, Ashkenazim, the vast majority of Jewish immigrants in Israel.