between a rock and a hard place

By the way, this unilateral ceasefire (from Israel) will have this effect:

A unilateral ceasefire would allow Israel to avoid agreeing concessions with Hamas, such as easing the 18-month-old blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has prevented medical aid and basic supplies reaching the Palestinians.

Israel has previously broken many agreements, including one whereby it said it would lift the blockade if a ceasefire were sustained. (June, 2008. See this post)

Hamas is also asking that the border with Rafah, Egypt be opened. The people of the Gaza Strip, at present, cannot leave or enter the territory. Gaza is about twice the size of Washington D.C. and its population is hemmed in by walls.

From the first link above, An unnamed Israeli official told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops would remain in Gaza in the event of any such ceasefire being called.

"If they [Hamas] decide to open fire, we will not hesitate to respond and continue the offensive," the official was quoted as saying.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, right? Both literally and figuratively. Also, all of the food supplies and medicine supplies in the UN compound were lost in the direct hit it took from the Israeli forces on Thursay (watch the video at the bottom of the article). The tunnels, which are a lifeline (and yes, through which weapons are also smuggled), will definitely have taken more than a severe battering from the bombardments, and further to that, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni signed a deal on Friday aimed at halting arms smuggling into Gaza as part of efforts to clinch a ceasefire. (so Israel negotiates with America, it's "unparalleled friend" to bring about a ceasefire?) Shell them into submission, then starve them to death. Is that the game plan?


An article from Australian ex-diplomat,Bruce Haig

A former captian in the Israeli airforce speaks out

Children Suffer in the War on Gaza (video).

Maybe these can help people understand why the following would strike fear into the heart of the average Palestinian:

Under the terms of [a ceasefire] proposal, Israeli troops would remain inside the territory for an unspecified period, a senior Israeli government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

No mention of the lifting of blockades or the opening of borders. No mention of a city infrastructure reduced to rubble. No mention of the ongoing human rights abuse, or placing the Israeli aggression, and the reaction to that, in the context of history.

Gazans tell of ordeal

gallows humour - 63%

Seems Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, has a grave sense of humour as his forces have attempted to make the headquarters of the UN refugee agency into a cemetery. (Israel hits U.N. Refugee Agency in Gaza, The Guardian, 15 January, 2009). You can find the same story all over the web. (*Please note, as of the 16th the Guardian has changed the title to Hamas interior minister reported dead in Gaza attack, Barak is now saying that his forces were fired at (disputed by the UN), and there is no mention of it being "a grave mistake". However, references to such an expression can be found at this Australian ABC article and in this BBC article. )


The headquarters of the UN refugee agency was on fire today as Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City, unleashing the heaviest shelling of densely packed neighbourhoods since their military operation began nearly three weeks ago.

The compound was bombed twice, and is a well-known location in Gaza which was marked with blue UN flags

A UN warehouse containing tonnes of relief supplies was burning fiercely after the compound was hit by what a UN spokesman, Chris Gunness, said appeared to be three white phosphorous shells. Three people were reported injured, one UN staff member and two of the estimated 700 local people who had taken shelter inside from the violence.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, angrily demanded an investigation. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, told him it was a grave mistake and he [Barak] took it very seriously. He assured [Kim] that extra attention will be paid to UN facilities and staff and this will not be repeated.

Be wary UN facilities and staff, and people sheltering in your buildings, of that kind of extra attention. And maybe Barak should be apologising to the people of Gaza for the poor eyesight of the members of his forces, rather than to Moon who seems to be happy with Barak's explanation, despite the demand for an inquiry.

Now loss of life was minimal (but still occurred), but how are those relief supplies going to get replaced, and where are they going to be stored? It beggars belief how cynical and arrogant this government is. But maybe that is the same of all governments around the world once they gain too much power.

And that is not all. Remember the IDF has the GPS of all of these civilian buildings. From the same news article:

Separately, the AFP news agency quoted witnesses as saying that a wing of the Al-Quds hospital in south-west Gaza, where hundreds more people had taken shelter early today from advancing Israeli tanks, was on fire after being struck. It was not clear if there were any injuries.

That is the same hospital that is referred to in this aid worker's blog.

and if that was not quite enough:

Reuters reported that a missile or shell had struck the Gaza tower block where the news agency and other media organisations have offices. The 13th floor of the Al-Shurouq Tower, which houses Abu Dhabi television, appeared to have been hit, injuring one of its journalists.
Reuters said it had provided Israeli forces with the co-ordinates of its office at the start of the war and had been repeatedly assured it was not a target.

What they say is true. IDF really are a killing machine. I guess Hamas was hiding in all of these places, and they were wired to the teeth with explosives. Or that is the explanation that we will get. Then retracted, then spun about some more, until Israel comes out looking all shiny and clean. You gotta have friends in the White House, hmm, and Canada, Australia, and the European Union.

From the very end of the article:

It is thought Hamas's conditions for any deal would probably include an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces the moment a ceasefire begins. That may prove too much for Israel to accept. Hamas also wants an Israeli commitment to lift the blockade on crossings into Israel and to open the Rafah crossing into Egypt. It wants the ceasefire to be limited to six months or a year.

Is it really so much to ask? Lifting the blockade (which means people can trade, eat, and get sources and resources) has always been a point of any ceasefire brokered, and Israel has never kept its side of the bargain (Ceasefire between Gaza and Israel has not eased conditions in Gaza – [the ceasefire] has not delivered on Israeli assurances to ease entry and exit of goods and people, UN News Centre, 24 October, 2008). In addition, considering that Israel broke the ceasefire and then invaded Gaza, is the last request really so abhorrent? But then, it is apparent that Israel has no intention of implementing a ceasefire until it is well and ready, no matter what Hamas might say.

From Australia's ABC :

The Palestinian death toll from the air-and-ground offensive has risen to at least 1,055, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.
A Palestinian rights group said 670 of the dead were civilians.

That is civilian deaths are 63 percent of all deaths.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed - 10 soldiers and three civilians hit by Hamas rocket fire.

By the way, considering the conventions broken and the brazen war crimes committed by Israeli forces in that above ABC article, its heading (Israeli army shells Gaza, ceasefire talk gathers steam, 15 January, 2009) is shameful, really. ABC is a an Australian government run tv station. I'm coming to expect nothing less from them, the majority of our media, and our government.

I wish I didn't have to keep writing these entries.

existence

Which countries do not officially recognise Taiwan nowadays? I wonder if it still exists? Of course that is not a case of occupier/occupied, but still it is there, despite China continuously telling us Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwanese saying that it is something else.

From what I know of it, I do not like Sharia law, if that is what Hamas uphold. By the same token, they were an elected government, by the people, and they had infrastructure in Gaza, and by that, I mean schools, kindergartens, universities, and so on. I do not believe that all of those buildings were disguised armaments. Also, Gaza existed long before Hamas, and many of these infrastructures were also in place (take note of the past tense) long before Hamas were. Additionally, in February 2008, Hamas were offering Israel a long-term cease-fire, lasting decades (from the Jewish Daily Forward, 28 February, 2008).

This from the Israeli pro-human rights (and aren't we all pro-human rights?) journalist, Amira Hass, after a November visit to Gaza, from Israel's Haaretz (December 30, 2008). I arrived at this article via the Australian media watch Middle East Reality Check blog, and have initially taken the quote that the writer of that blog ran with.

In This is Gaza (30/12/08) Hass wrote," Gaza is the ability to tell jokes in any situation, and the burning insult of having no running water for 3 or 4 days. And yet, the children go clean and neat to school... Gaza is also parents leaving their children alone at home, without fear, or letting them go to a playground far from home, or go by themselves to their grandmother in the Jabaliya refugee camp... "

She also reports of the contradictions of the place:

"Gaza is the teacher who forces school girls to cover their heads, although senior officials* assert that this is not the education ministry's policy. It is exaggerations and false rumors, and it is also the Fatah detainees' report that cameras were installed in the interrogation room to ensure that the interrogators act within the boundaries of the law. It is the surprise when "Hamas" police restore stolen property, even before it has been reported stolen. "
*Senior officials = Hamas, I assume.

There have been human rights abuses perpetuated by both Hamas and Fatah, as detailed by B'Tselem , The Israeli Center for Human rights in the Occupied Territories (2007) (though the Israeli-perpetuated abuses still far outweigh them). Even so:

"Gaza is people's constant attempt to cling to a normal life, although Israel foists on them abnormal terms of imprisonment, isolation from the rest of the world and deterioration to a state of humiliating dependence on international charity programs."

Whether Hamas (when not under bombardment) aids or hinders that attempt, I do not know. However, as said above, Israel certainly does little to encourage it. This is not the first report I have heard of this resilience and care amongst the people under occupation.

Remember that there was a ceasefire between Gaza and Israel from June to when it was broken by Israeli forces. Here, or if you want another source, here , or if you want jocularity in the face of tragedy, this report from CNN detailing the events. Does Israel just want all out war in the area, or does it want to wipe Gaza from the map? These were "the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: 'The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."' (Rashid Kalidi, What You Don't Know About Gaza, January 8, 2009, The New York Times). Maybe it is continuation of the sentiment.

[Note, added January 16th, an interesting article: The Conflict Within Hamas (Edward Platt, New Statesman, January 15, 2009].

The reports posted on popular "news" sites in Australia seem to be no longer reporting civilian deaths, or war crimes. The only shots they have are of burnt-out buildings, or plumes of smoke. If you want to see what photos of dead and wounded people look like, to get a real idea, you might want to go here , or to read the stories of the people, you might want to go here, or here, or here, or visit some of the Palestinian news sites or the Al Jazeera website (they operate from Qatar and CNN and the BBC and other stations often use their footage or reports [refer to the references])

Let's not forget the rest of the Palestinians while we are at it, though of course I can really only speak for myself.

Post Script: From the same link as the opening one. In February, The Jewish Daily Forward (28/02/2008), reported that the Israeli public was in favour of talks, rather than never negotiating: "...the Israeli public is ahead of its leaders. A new poll conducted by Tel Aviv University and published this week in Ha’aretz shows that 64% of Israelis favor talks with Hamas, and only 28% are opposed". Whether that remains true or not, I do not know, as it seems all reports of opinion polls indicate that the war is popular with the Israeli public (not all, I hasten to add). As with us, they do not get live coverage which involves people, and they probably get the same bombed out building as visual proof of the IDF's "successes". Though, of course, from a radio report just heard (with Israeli, Efrat Wolfson. Go to this link and listen to the Jan 14, 2009 show), those who are opposed, and who work together for peace, do not get the coverage, as is the way.