June 18, 2007
Hamas To Feel The Squeeze As World Community Lines Up Behind Abbas
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert heads to Washington today as Western powers and Israel formulate a plan to cripple militant Hamas through isolation.
The EU and Israel have agreed to release aid and frozen tax revenues to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah government, which is in control of the West Bank. Abbas reaffirmed plans to seek a peace agreement with Israel; the moderate leader is backed by Washington and the EU. In a phone call to President Bush today, "President Abbas told Mr. Bush that this is the time to resume the political negotiations and to revive the hope of the Palestinian people," an Abbas aide said.
The White House seems poised to join the EU in re-releasing aid to the new Fatah government. That issue, along with resumption of peace talks, is expected to be on the table when Olmert and Bush sit down today.
The situation in Gaza, where unemployment and poverty are a much bigger problem than in the relatively peaceful West Bank, was already dire before Hamas gunmen wrested control of the region from Fatah. Now with the international community threatening to cut off the tiny Gaza Strip monetarily and Israel hinting it will do so physically, life for the area's nearly 1.5 million residents may get much, much worse.
Armed looters are running loose in Gaza. News agencies report that the home of the late Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat was ransacked, his Nobel Peace Prize stolen.
The bulk of Gazans seemed to want an end to the fighting last week, with some staging protests amid the gunfire. Now, their well-being is at the mercy of a Hamas government that is receiving no aid or support from even its neighbors. Egypt pulled its envoys out of Gaza after Hamas' victory over Fatah there. Hamas is an offshoot of sorts of Egypt's resident terrorist threat, the Muslim Brotherhood.
There is talk of reinforcing security along the Egyptian-Gaza border with Egyptian and Israeli troops. Either way, it's likely Egypt will take measures that will further isolate Gazans. And humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross may find it nearly impossible to operate there. Two U.N. workers were killed in the fighting, IRIN reports.
Hamas is aware that total isolation could mean its political demise, and is vowing to restore order. It is threatening to go after a terrorist group that says it will kill BBC News correspondent Alan Johnston if its demands are not met. Johnston has been held hostage for more than three months.
Over the weekend, New York Times' Craig S. Smith and Greg Myre made a case that Hamas will eventually be forced to back down and cooperate with Fatah. Their article is accompanied by graphs breaking down the territories' demographic makeup.
Posted at 12:30 PM
Posted to:
Fatah, Israel, Palestinians
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