Gaza communities need actions, not just words

I spent the past week-end with my wife in the Gaza periphery. More precisely, I was hosted by my friend and fellow MK Shay Hermesh who extended the invitation to stay with him and his family at his kibbutz in Kfar Aza. The area's civilian and security problems have been known to me for some time. However, the 2 days I spent there allowed for a closer look at the reality on the ground.

The most impressive thing I noticed was the spirit of the people there. I met proud people, strong people, unpretentious people, heroes and certainly people devoid of the typical, whiny 'sense of entitlement' attitude so prevalent whithin Israeli population. A visit to a local kindergarten, whose walls were made of thick cement and whose windows were elevated and decreased in size so they almost looked like small shootout points, was enough to understand the continued difficulties such communities have endured for the past 7 years. The swings and slides stand alone in unused sandboxes since these small children are forbidden to play outside and spend their days in a room where very little sunlight comes through.

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Gaza op inevitable

Last week's barrage of Kassam and mortar fire from Gaza into the surrounding communities has set a new record for the residents living there. This collective suffering has reached a point of no return.

Israel's leadership must provide an answer to its citizens who are living under Hamas rocket fire, a definite answer. In the absence of such an answer from the government, I would like to state the truth as I see it.

Why is the government not preparing a major operation intended to break Hamas's strength and hold on the Gaza Strip? Such an operation is inevitable, because Israel cannot and will not resign itself to the existence of an Iranian terror base on its borders forever.

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Put an end to Hamas' regime

The deterioration of the situation is Gaza is still in full swing. The barrage of Kassams on Sderot and the firing of rockets at Ashkelon is a calculated escalation on the part of Hamas. It is a retaliatory action for the successful targeted killings of terrorists who, in the absence of the assassination on Wednesday morning, would have executed an attack that would have extracted a high price from us. It is important to mention this fact since there is a general feeling that the IDF is not doing enough and that is completely untrue.

Even so, the frustration here is still high inasmuch as the rockets keep coming despite the offensive operations that the IDF is undertaking in Gaza, and the range has been expanded to include Ashkelon. With frustrating and confusing conditions, come futile ideas - defeatist and adventurous especially. Therefore, it is important to state clearly what is possible and what is necessary.

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The new Gaza reality

The use of bombs to breach the border wall between Gaza and Egypt along the 'Philadelphi' route has a Hamas signature. The fact that the border is now completely open significantly changes the reality on the ground - a reality shaped by the IDF's exit and Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

From an economic perspective, the removal of the barrier holds no long-term importance. In the short-term, thousands of Gazans are able to purchase basic products at cheap prices at the Egyptian Rafah and Al-Arish. It will be "rejuvenating" for them to get out of Gaza, after the months of suffocation they underwent due to Hamas's rise to power and Israel's counter-measures since.

However, even if the border with Egypt remains open, Egypt cannot serve as the economic front that Israel had been for Gaza until last June. Poor Egypt is not an attractive destination for Gazan imports. The prices offered in Egypt for agricultural products and light industrial materials from Gaza would be much lower than the prices they would be able to obtain in Israel. No investments would be made in a Gaza run by Hamas and the destroyed private sector will not rise without economic relations with Israel. Even if this border breach is considered an achievement for Hamas, it cannot feed the 1.5 million people in Gaza.

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The Egyptian-Saudi conspiracy

Since Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip, all border crossings have been closed between Gaza and Israel and between Gaza and Egypt.

The passage of goods for humanitarian purposes is conducted temporarily through the Sufa crossing or the Kerem Shalom crossing which is essentially a border delineation. In the tunnels dug between Sinai and the Rafiah area in the Gaza Strip - a phenomenon Egypt has still not managed to control or shut down - the smuggling of weapons and arms, money and operatives are a common occurrence.

When the time came for the pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj), PA leader Mahmoud Abbas coordinated with Israel the passage of hundreds of pilgrims through Jordanian bridges, where once on the Jordanian side, Saudi officials were to be waiting to stamp their passports. The gesture was meant to bolster Abbas's political standing and prevent Hamas operatives from making their way to training facilities in Iran and to other meetings.

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