Israel's sudden Gaza dilemma

Potential humanitarian crisis? The UN says food will run out in about 10 days if Gaza stays sealed.

By Ilene R. Prusher | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the June 19, 2007 edition

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Jerusalem - Unprepared for the Hamas coup last week that routed the Fatah faction from Gaza, Israel is now faced with the quandary of what to do with the sudden emergence of an Islamic militant ministate on its borders.

The dilemma for Israel, which supplies or allows the shipment of food, fuel, and other goods to Gaza, is whether it should encumber or enable Hamas. Some here argue for engagement; others want isolation.

Hanging in the balance is the potential for a humanitarian crisis for the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza, a majority of whom already live in poverty and are effectively shut off from the outside world. If all of the entry points to Gaza remain closed, the United Nations says, there will be food shortages in about 10 days. If demands for fuel, electricity, clean water, and medical supplies are left unmet, that could trigger a slew of health and environmental problems.

"We want to work to make sure aid and foodstuffs can flow. Obviously, the whole international community has to adjust to this reality and find solutions to the humanitarian issues," says Mark Regev, the spokesman of the Israeli foreign ministry. "Israel has no interest whatsoever in creating even greater hardship in Gaza."

But it does have an interest in seeing an outpouring of aid for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader who dismissed his national unity government after Hamas took Gaza last week.

The implicit message to Palestinians: Life is likely to get better under the moderate Palestinian Authority (PA) run by Fatah in the West Bank and a lot worse for Palestinians living under Hamas in Gaza.

An Israeli right-wing politician, Avigdor Lieberman, argues that Gaza's suffering is no longer the Jewish state's problem. "The responsibility for security in the Gaza Strip has to pass to NATO, and the responsibility for the economy and humanitarian needs must pass to the European Union, and the sooner the better," he wrote in the Maariv newspaper.

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