The terror group Hamas has orchestrated a major escalation of tension along the border between Gaza and Israel. Gaza, you may recall, was occupied by Israel from 1967 until about 2006 when the Israelis voluntarily withdrew and turned the area over to the Palestinians as a sign of good will. Within a short time, Hamas took control of Gaza and turned it into an armed camp which has twice attacked Israel in wars. At the moment, Gaza is still under the control of Hamas, but the terror group has seen its tactics failing. First, Egypt, which used to support Hamas, has become a strong ally of Israel in dealing with Hamas. The smuggling routes that used to run from Egypt into Gaza have been shut down by the Egyptians. For the most part, this is the result of Hamas' support for the Islamic terror groups operating inside Egypt in the Sinai region. These Hamas supported groups have killed scores of Egyptian police and military personnel along with civilians in Sinai. As a result, there is no longer any land route into Gaza through which military supplies can easily pass. Second, the Hamas program of building and launching missiles at Israel has been thwarted by the Israeli Iron Dome system which shoots down missiles that might hit populated areas. A major investment by Hamas has been neutralized. Third, the Hamas construction of tunnels under the border to points inside Israel from which terrorists can launch attacks on the Israelis has also been neutralized. Israel has developed countermeasures which have detected tunnels under construction and blocked their completion. The tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that Hamas stole from humanitarian relief and used instead for the tunnels were all wasted. That led to the latest development.
This morning, Hamas organized "protests" of ordinary residents of Gaza to come to the border fence and demand the right to return to "Palestine". Hamas was testing to see the Israeli reaction to these protests. Would Israeli troops enforce the zone next to the border which is an area for which entry is prohibited? Would Israel back off and let the seemingly civilian crowd surge to and over the border fence? The answer this morning was clear; Israel will enforce the border "no-go" zone. As the crowds tried to surge to the border fence, the Israelis first used riot control measures to push them back. When that failed to stop the crowds and they began to come very close to the border fence, the Israelis opened fire with rubber bullets. Then, when the Israelis spotted some in the crowd attempting to plant explosives next to the fence, they opened fire with real bullets in a successful attempt to stop the attack to breach the fence. Initial reports put the number of dead at seven.
This is a really awful move by Hamas. It is using these civilians including women and children as human sacrifices on the altar of its military aims. The truth is that Hamas figures that it wins no matter what happens. If the border fence is breached and the crowd surges into Israel, then Hamas will claim a great victory. Maybe those in the crowd can kill Israelis and destroy property in Israel. On the other hand, if as is more likely the Israelis drive the crowd back, then Hamas will portray Israel as murderers of civilians. Hamas hopes that this will gain it new supporters on the world stage. At a minimum, Hamas hopes to make it more difficult for the Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia to cooperate with Israel (as has been happening more and more.)
I don't believe this will work. The Israelis are not likely to back down and allow the crowds into Israel. That probably means that many more will die at the border. At some point, the fervor of the Gaza crowd will likely wane as the futility and consequences of these crowd attacks become clear. It is even possible that some in Gaza will blame Hamas for foolhardy actions, although this is not very likely. The Egyptians and the Saudis are way too concerned about Iran to let the deaths of Gaza civilians worry them. In the last six years, something like 600,000 have died in Syria and most of them were civilians. The number of dead in Yemen is now approaching 50,000 again heavy with civilians. In Iraq, there were also huge numbers of dead just in the battle against ISIS. Even a few hundred more dead in Gaza won't faze most Middle Eastern leaders.
It is far from certain, though, that my views are correct. The Gaza border crowd war has commenced. Like all wars, the outcome will not be certain until it is over. Hopefully, this war will deal a death blow to the terrorists of Hamas.
This morning, Hamas organized "protests" of ordinary residents of Gaza to come to the border fence and demand the right to return to "Palestine". Hamas was testing to see the Israeli reaction to these protests. Would Israeli troops enforce the zone next to the border which is an area for which entry is prohibited? Would Israel back off and let the seemingly civilian crowd surge to and over the border fence? The answer this morning was clear; Israel will enforce the border "no-go" zone. As the crowds tried to surge to the border fence, the Israelis first used riot control measures to push them back. When that failed to stop the crowds and they began to come very close to the border fence, the Israelis opened fire with rubber bullets. Then, when the Israelis spotted some in the crowd attempting to plant explosives next to the fence, they opened fire with real bullets in a successful attempt to stop the attack to breach the fence. Initial reports put the number of dead at seven.
This is a really awful move by Hamas. It is using these civilians including women and children as human sacrifices on the altar of its military aims. The truth is that Hamas figures that it wins no matter what happens. If the border fence is breached and the crowd surges into Israel, then Hamas will claim a great victory. Maybe those in the crowd can kill Israelis and destroy property in Israel. On the other hand, if as is more likely the Israelis drive the crowd back, then Hamas will portray Israel as murderers of civilians. Hamas hopes that this will gain it new supporters on the world stage. At a minimum, Hamas hopes to make it more difficult for the Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia to cooperate with Israel (as has been happening more and more.)
I don't believe this will work. The Israelis are not likely to back down and allow the crowds into Israel. That probably means that many more will die at the border. At some point, the fervor of the Gaza crowd will likely wane as the futility and consequences of these crowd attacks become clear. It is even possible that some in Gaza will blame Hamas for foolhardy actions, although this is not very likely. The Egyptians and the Saudis are way too concerned about Iran to let the deaths of Gaza civilians worry them. In the last six years, something like 600,000 have died in Syria and most of them were civilians. The number of dead in Yemen is now approaching 50,000 again heavy with civilians. In Iraq, there were also huge numbers of dead just in the battle against ISIS. Even a few hundred more dead in Gaza won't faze most Middle Eastern leaders.
It is far from certain, though, that my views are correct. The Gaza border crowd war has commenced. Like all wars, the outcome will not be certain until it is over. Hopefully, this war will deal a death blow to the terrorists of Hamas.
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