Hamas punched a few holes in the wall that defines the common boundary between Israel, Gaza and Egypt. The Gaza strip is also walled off from Israel, due to continued anti-Israeli violence emanating from the Palestian authority. Palestinians took advantage of the hiatus in its standoff with Israel, to do some shopping and visit acquaintances in Egypt.
Gaza dates back to antiquity. It was on the king's highway, linking the near east with Egypt and has thus rarely known much peace. Britain annexed the region during the First World War and Egypt occupied it up to 1967, after the Arabs declined to be incorporated into Egypt. Israel occupied the Sinai and Gaza from 1967 until recently, but through US and UN brokered initiatives, the Palestians eventually acquired regional autonomy.
Then an internal struggle started between Fatah and the more aggressive Hamas faction of Palestine, resulting in Hamas acquiring control over Gaza in spite of a Fatah political mandate under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas is a dangerous faction that has been denounced by the US and her allies, but they continue to stir the pot along the southern flank of Israel. Israel faces other threats from West Bank palestinians and from the Golan to the north, notwithstanding greater strategic threats from surrounding nations.
Egypt, realising that Gazanian forays across the border would release the political antagonisation of Israel, has historically refused any rights of citizenship or trade to Gaza and is now resealing the border to ensure that the area remains a flea in Israel's ear.
With limited world empathy for their very unfair position, Israel is increasingly strained in the defence of her hard-won sovereignty. Which of the many factors looming over her security will snap and when, is a question that significantly tests Pentagon planners and middle east peace. But a major war seems invetable, especially as nuclear options come into the mix.
(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com
Gaza dates back to antiquity. It was on the king's highway, linking the near east with Egypt and has thus rarely known much peace. Britain annexed the region during the First World War and Egypt occupied it up to 1967, after the Arabs declined to be incorporated into Egypt. Israel occupied the Sinai and Gaza from 1967 until recently, but through US and UN brokered initiatives, the Palestians eventually acquired regional autonomy.
Then an internal struggle started between Fatah and the more aggressive Hamas faction of Palestine, resulting in Hamas acquiring control over Gaza in spite of a Fatah political mandate under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas is a dangerous faction that has been denounced by the US and her allies, but they continue to stir the pot along the southern flank of Israel. Israel faces other threats from West Bank palestinians and from the Golan to the north, notwithstanding greater strategic threats from surrounding nations.
Egypt, realising that Gazanian forays across the border would release the political antagonisation of Israel, has historically refused any rights of citizenship or trade to Gaza and is now resealing the border to ensure that the area remains a flea in Israel's ear.
With limited world empathy for their very unfair position, Israel is increasingly strained in the defence of her hard-won sovereignty. Which of the many factors looming over her security will snap and when, is a question that significantly tests Pentagon planners and middle east peace. But a major war seems invetable, especially as nuclear options come into the mix.
(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com
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