The metaphorical darkness is all over Gaza and the 1.5 million residents there are being plunged into deeper darkness still. The translation of the metaphorical into the real could begin in no time and apprehension is already running wild among the Gaza people. The threat by Israel to cut off power supplies to Gaza has driven the poor and hopeless people in the region to utter desperation.
By cutting off fuel and electricity supplies to Gaza, over which it controls majority of control and thus is legally bound to sustain the region’s welfare, how much the Israeli authorities plan to help its own people is anybody’s guess. Instead the measure is calculated at driving the Palestinians into even more despair.
At the moment the Palestinians in Gaza are heavily dependent on Israel for food aid and this reinforced clampdown on Gaza would multiply the woes of the Palestinians. Israel of course maintain that their act is to decimate the rocket attacks by the Palestinians on Israeli territories and has promised not to spark a humanitarian crisis in Gaza but that hardly sounds reassuring.
The US-sponsored Annapolis peace conference on the Middle East crisis later this year is being built as the ultimate diplomatic negotiation that ushers in a blanket of peace and stability over the entire controversy. But the new threat by Israel has only helped to increase the pessimism hanging over the Annapolis peace conference. Several such peace efforts have gone to waste and most of the people in Gaza feel that this one too wouldn’t be any different.
Image Source: BBC
Source: Time
