While all eyes were on America…
“Israeli forces on Tuesday night attacked the Gaza Strip for the first time since June [sic], when the government agreed a ceasefire with the Islamist Hamas group that controls the territory. The raid killed six Hamas militants, including two senior field commanders.”
Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, while emphasising its continued commitment to the ceasefire. Israel has, of course, used this as a pretext for tightening the siege still further. As the Guardian notes,
“The attack comes shortly before a key meeting this Sunday in Cairo when Hamas and its political rival Fatah will hold talks on reconciling their differences and creating a single, unified government. It will be the first time the two sides have met at this level since fighting a near civil war more than a year ago.”
How convenient. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum makes the reasonable connection:
“It is obvious that this aggression aims at poisoning the atmosphere before the dialogue starts”.
Filed under: Israeli / Palestinian | 6 Comments
Tags: blockade, ceasefire, divide and rule, Gaza, Hamas, siege, truce
-
-
Subscribe to The Heathlander feed
-
Site Meter
What’s your take on the tunnel over which the initial skirmish took place?
My take is that, as I wrote above, I’m quite sceptical that destroying a tunnel was the real reason for Israel’s actions.
An IJ leader has now been assassinated.