Israel moves to further isolate Gazans

The country prepares to cut power to Gaza, hoping that residents will turn against Hamas.

from the October 25, 2007 edition

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"If one wants to talk about exports from Gaza to Israel, the only export today is mortar shells and Qassam rockets. When we declared Gaza a hostile entity, we were actually just describing reality, which is that an extremist terrorist entity has taken control of Gaza," he says. "Can anyone expect that Israel would continue a business-as-usual policy with Gaza? On the contrary, business as usual is impossible."

Since Hamas took over, the group has attempted to regulate the smuggling of illicit goods. "Hamas said you can smuggle anything except weapons and drugs," tunnel smuggler Hashem says. He has shifted from moving AK-47s and bullets to cheese, salted fish, and painkillers.

Israeli officials say intelligence reports indicate that sophisticated antitank weapons and rockets still flow into Gaza.

Up and down the coast, Israel's policy of blocking imports has left store shelves so bare that it's impossible to find a can of soda. The price of cigarettes has doubled, pushed up also by a tax that Hamas charges the smugglers. The price of 50-kg (110-lb.) sacks of flour rose 80 percent to 180 shekels ($45).

An absence of raw materials has forced most businesses to close, or work at minimum capacity; the lack of cement has silenced 95 percent of the building projects in Gaza. According to United Nations agencies, some 70,000 people have lost their jobs in a territory where 80 percent already live in poverty.

In the last week, there's also been a spike in internal violence in the Gaza Strip. Hamas gunmen have waged separate clashes with Islamic Jihad fighters for control of a mosque in the border town of Gaza, as well as with gunmen from the Fatah-allied Hillis clan in Gaza City.

Munir Dweik, a cab driver who spends most of his days waiting for customers on the Palestinian side of the northern Gaza Erez crossing, says that although the clashes were not directly related to the economic sanctions, Gazans overall have become more prone to violence.

But instead of blaming just Hamas for the conditions in Gaza, fingers are pointing at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also called Abu Mazen, for contributing to the air of crisis. Many Gazans believe that the Fata-run government in Ramallah has given tacit support to the sanctions. "People are blaming both governments – in Ramallah and Gaza," he says. "People are victims of the Abu Mazen and the Hamas governments."

Safwat Al-Kahlout contributed reporting from Gaza City.

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