Israel’s Gaza conundrum

By Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM — There isn’t a solution for Gaza.

It’s controlled by Hamas, with other factions even more extreme in their opposition to recognizing Israel, or dealing with it openly.

And Israel is not ready to deal openly with Hamas, widely recognized as a terrorist organization.

Gazans have missiles that can reach deep into Israel, but they generally avoid using them in order to prevent a retaliation.

They have lots of cheap stuff that can annoy, and threaten Israelis living close to Gaza. Balloons and kites that carry homemade firebombs and small explosives have burned fields and damaged buildings.

Hamas and others encourage thousands to demonstrate alongside the border and manage to gain limited entry into Israel, as well as to send over those balloons, kites, and use slingshots to fire what they can.

Some Israelis would send in the army to create havoc, kill thousands, destroy buildings, and perhaps even occupy and control Gaza.

The cost would be considerable. Israel has done that, and decided that it would not solve the problem, and is not worth the financial cost or the Israeli lives that would be lost.

Along with Egypt, it pretty much keeps the borders closed, except for special cases needing medical care, as well as the routine provision of gasoline and other consumer goods.

The payment comes from Gazans and Qatar.

Palestinians of the West Bank, controlled by Hamas’ enemies (Fatah), resist using any resources to help their cousins in Gaza.

Some Gazan faction sent a missile to Beer Sheva, that destroyed a home, but without serious injuries, and another missile that landed in the sea near Tel Aviv.

That produced an uptick in Israeli responses, until things seemed calmed by Egyptian sources.

Earlier the Defense Minister had ordered the end of gasoline shipments, pending the ceasing of kites, balloons, and what they carry.

Toward Friday’s time of demonstration and violence, we saw tens of tanks, armed personnel carriers, artillery, and other equipment arrayed along the border with Gaza. An earlier government meeting had lasted for five hours, and ended with an elliptical announcement that didn’t say much more than Israel would respond more fully to Gazan violence.

Egypt pressed Hamas to lighten its protests. Hamas gave different responses. We waited to see what would happen on Friday afternoon.

The weekend passed with moderate Palestinian violence, and moderate Israeli responses. Pretty much leaving us where we were.

Hamas continued to declare victory, and promised its people that they would return home and control Jerusalem.

Israel, but not Egypt, is blamed internationally for keeping Gaza a prison.

What to do, except to accept another anomaly, with military strikes occasionally against those who disturb, destroying tunnels being built toward Israel, but not going so far as to provoke the sending of missiles to Israeli cities?

There are efforts, via talks with Egypt and Qatar, and perhaps others, to bring things to a level of quiet.

To date they have been frustrated by West Bank Palestinians, who refuse to cooperate by helping with any money or other participation, except on their terms.

Somewhere in the background is the agreement to allow Gazans to enter Israel in order to work, as well as to develop a Gazan airport in the Sinai and a seaport, either on an man-made island or on Cyprus, with control by Israel over what can be shipped.

And there remains a question about Hamas’ control over factions even more extreme, who seem more inclined to continued strife than to anything approaching an agreement.

Of course the issue has become a matter for dispute in Israel. The IDF seems to prefer to keep things pretty much as they are. Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman joust over greater aggression and greater provision of consumer goods, with others joining in the dispute in ways that seem to change with circumstances.

So we’re left with what is arguably the most pressing and unresolved and unsolvable of our Palestinian problems.

Except for ideologues, few want to control a couple of million Palestinians, enough of whom are restive to be a continuing source of problems.

Zionist Union and Meretz leaders criticize Israeli policy as being too aggressive, but Gaza doesn’t appear to be a prominent issue of those parties.

The continued threat of troublesome attacks by balloons and kites is intolerable, especially to those living within their range. Occasional Israeli attacks may limit those, but not entirely, and with nastiness from opposition internationally from those always griping about Israel.

Most of the time the trucks continue from Israel, with gasoline to fuel electric generation so it’ll increase from a few to a bit more hours per day, and other consumer supplies.

It’s a continuing struggle to keep down the supply of what can be used to make missiles or tunnels, as well as to locate and destroy tunnels as they approach Israeli borders.

It ain’t easy. And there is no apparent relief from the struggle in sight.

But that’s where we are with Gaza.

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Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University.  He may be contacted via ira.sharkansky@sdjewishworld.com