Tag Archives: peace deal

Peace in Gaza has hit a snag. Actually it has hit three, but one is bigger than the others.

This is not surprising. No one but a total naiveté could have thought that total peace and harmony would have descended once Donald Trump had spoken.

There are decades of mistrust, hatred, violence and lies to overcome. In fact, more than a century if one goes back to the Balfour Declaration and the Jewish settlements of the 1920s.

But back to the present day when both sides have been accusing the other of bad faith and breaches of the ceasefire/peace agreement. Hamas has accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of continuing to fire on their fighters. They also complain that the promised aid has not arrived. The Israelis are angry that Hamas is slow in returning the bodies of dead hostages.

The IDF admits that since the ceasefire it has shot and killed Hamas fighters. Hamas claims that 24 have died. The Gaza Ministry of Health puts the death toll at four. The number, however, is less important than the fact that Palestinians who should be alive are dead.

Israel says that the Palestinians who died attacked Israeli soldiers and that they reserve the right to defend themselves. They probably did attack. How they attacked we do not know because journalists are now allowed inside Gaza. But we do know that the IDF has a reputation for shooting boys who throw stones. Hamas, however, has a reputation for ruthlessness and an inability to control its fighters.

Hamas’s other complaint is linked to a complaint from Israel—the supply of aid. There are three crossings from Israel into Gaza: Rafah, Erez and Kerem Shalom. All aid must go through these land crossings as Israel maintains a tight naval blockade. Two of the crossings are still closed by Israel. Therefore not enough aid is getting through and the Gazans are continuing to starve to death.

The Israeli government, however, is under pressure from the hostage families to withhold aid until all the bodies of the dead hostages are returned.