Gaza Border Wrecked (Again)

Before I begin with today’s rant, let’s have a little geography lesson.

To the left is a map of Israel. Israel lies on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the only Jewish state in the Middle East, it is the only quasi-acknowledged nuclear power in the Middle East, and it is the longest running democracy in the Middle East.

To the southwest of Israel, bordering the sea, you’ll see a tiny piece of land called the “Gaza Strip.” This is a densely populated area that is predominantly Muslim. In the original agreement that established the nation of Israel in 1948, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights were administered by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria respectively. It was only after the 1967 clash with neighboring Arab countries that Israel occupied these areas.

When Hamas, a “political party” formed of Palestinians that openly uses terrorism as part of their tactics, was elected to several positions within the Gaza strip, Israel placed the area under a blockade. Hamas siezed control of the area last June. The blockade intensified, with cooperation from Egypt. This included walling off large sections of the border, restricting trade, and applying economic sanctions against the territory.

There is currently a wall seperating Gaza from Egypt. Militants within Gaza have knocked large sections of this wall down in order to go into Egypt to buy food and other essentials. The concern is that some of those leaving the blockade are returning with weapons or cash. Likewise, there are projections that indicate more militants will be brought into an already tense situation.

Let’s be completely honest here. In a siege, there are several things that the besieging army is trying to do:

• Eliminate mobility and initiative.
• Strangle communications.
• Interdict supplies.
• Break the will of the defender.

If Egypt is truly a partner in this endeavor, if they are truly trying to support Israel’s efforts in isolating Hamas, then they have a responsibility to enforce the blockade. If they are not a partner, Israel needs to know so that it can assume full responsibility for maintaining the containment of Hamas. Shame on Egypt, but it is at least understandable since the Egyptian people share close ties with those in Gaza.

If Israel were truly serious about this, they would let the region starve for around five to seven days. After that, they would allow women and children under twelve years of age to leave. Then, they would wait another week or ten days and begin to demand the surrender of the remaining men and boys. If there was no surrender, that’s no problem. Interdict any supply efforts by global relief organizations, turn a deaf ear to humanitarian pleas, and let Hamas eat their own rhetoric if they desire sustenance. Eventually, the defenders will either be so stubborn that they die of disease or starvation, or the rational men left in Gaza will capture the Hamas leaders and present them to the Israelis. Either way, Israel wins. And the next time Israel puts a blockade on someone, they’ll understand that they mean business.