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| Palestinians cross the border into Egypt after the wall was destroyed by Palestinian militants. The tidal wave of people into
Egypt may inadvertently force the nationto assume a greater responsibility for the Gaza Strip, something thatIsrael has been
pushing for for quite some time. Abid Katib/Getty Images |
Israel sees upside in hole in Gaza wall
Israeli officials see opportunity to turn Gaza over to Egypt to provide services.
from the January 25, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
All of this, he suggests, is a watershed for Israel's presumed responsibility for Gaza. "It shifts the thinking. There is a border with Egypt, so let them decide when to open it," Heller posits. "The only problem is more of what existed before, in the form of what goes over the Israel-Gaza border. We might see more long-range rockets getting into Gaza. But it will be easier to identify the source and harder to justify criticism of the Israeli response."
Other analysts wonder if the policy of isolation of Hamas – and by default, the 1.5 million residents of Gaza – may have to be rewritten, before it rewrites itself. Since it took over the Strip in a violent coup last June, the international community has hoped that, by denying it legitimacy and giving a boost to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, something would change. Either Hamas would collapse under the economic pressure, or would buckle politically and become more moderate. Neither seems to have happened, with Hamas even looking victorious this week in the eyes of many Palestinians.
"It's hard to see how a policy of simply bolstering Abbas and [Prime Minister] Salam Fayyad is deeply realistic," says Lowe, of Chatham House. "There were hints from within the organization that they were willing to make concessions. It wasn't clear that given the right carrot, they might not have come around. But perhaps there were too many sticks."
Lowe says that perhaps an Israeli gesture, such as a move to dismantle illegal settlement outposts, could open the door for a more cooperative stance. "There would have to be some clear movement on the Israeli side for Hamas to give anything up. Without that, it's hard for them to explain any change to their own hard-liners."
And the US position on the Gaza breach? Nicholas Burns, the US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, at a briefing Thursday with reporters in Jerusalem said: "Obviously, we want to be supportive of the Egyptian government's efforts to regain a measure of control over that area.... We see the residents of Gaza as victims of the poor leadership of Hamas."
Asked whether restoring order meant resealing the border, Mr. Burns said he would not want to "give advice" to "two friendly governments," Israel and Egypt, which are struggling to deal with a "chaotic and dangerous situation."
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