The battle lines between Hamas in Gaza and Israel are being drawn. Israel had made the first move by enforcing a blockade on the Gaza strip. Later, the squeeze was tightened. But Israel was wrong if it thought that Gaza would throw out its Hamas rulers. Instead what occurred was a breakout into Egypt. Gaza got its much needed supplies and Hamas won a major public relations battle against Israel.
The next step by Hamas is a human chain by Gaza Palestinians all throughout the Gaza-Israel border. The pro-Hamas Popular Committee Against the Siege managed the show which saw heavy participation by Palestine school children and women. If Hamas wanted to put a scare into Israel, it succeeded. Israel had heavily beefed up security at the border.
Though the demonstration against Israeli embargo was largely peaceful, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya warned Israel that this was a trailer, so to speak, and more was to follow. He said that in the future Gaza women and children would attempt a break-in into Israel and blood would flow.
Israel is nervous about what Hamas is up to. It has hardened its stance. The Israeli cabinet has ordered building rocket proof buildings for Israelis residing close to the border. For protecting those beyond the border areas, an anti-missile system will be installed. Israel is angry about the steady barrage of Qassam rockets from Gaza into border areas in Israel. The Israeli town of Sderot is bearing the brunt of the attacks.
All these developments show that both the sides are hardening their positions. It is a merely a matter of time before blood is shed again on the Gaza-Israel border. The Bush initiative of getting Fatah and Israel to get talking, simply ignored Hamas and that will prove to be the reason of its failure.
Source: TimesOnline
