Fighting Continues as Israel, Hamas Reject Ceasefire
Israeli Warplanes Strike Gaza
As fighting in the Gaza Strip continues into its third week, the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution in an attempt to bring a halt to the violence. The vote was passed 14-0-1 with the US abstaining. Unfortunately, the cease fire agreement makes no sense for either party, reiterating their inability to truly understand the Middle East conflict.
On the Israeli side of the conflict, the ceasefire resolution inadequately addresses Israel’s security concerns. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated that Israel “has never agreed to let an external body decide its right to protect the security of its citizens,” and that the proposed ceasefire agreement is simply “unworkable.”
The ceasefire agreement calls for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and for monitors to deploy along the Philadelphia Corridor to ensure Hamas does not continue to smuggle weapons from Egypt. It’s pretty obvious why Israel finds this resolution “inadequate.”
Just over 2 years ago, the United Nations Security Council agreed on a ceasefire resolution to bring a halt to the war between Israel and Lebanon. Following Israel’s withdrawal after the agreement was reached, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was deployed in Southern Lebanon to ensure Hezbullah does not rearm. To say UNIFIL has failed in its duties is an extreme understatement.
As such, Israel needs a ceasefire resolution that would provide an effective mechanism of ensuring a halt to weapons smuggling from Egypt to Hamas. It seems like the only organization Israel will trust to complete this task is the IDF. Based on UNIFIL’s failures, Israel won’t be putting its security needs in the hands of another incompetent organization.
On Hamas’ side of the conflict, Osama Hamdan, a Hamas envoy to Lebanon, stated that the ceasefire resolution “does not meet the demands of the movement.” Hamas also stated that “it was not consulted and its demands are not met.” That’s it, that’s all. No further explanation was given by Hamas for rejecting the ceasefire.
Naturally, the question I would ask Hamas is what demands do you have that have not been addressed by the ceasefire resolution? I understand Israel’s rational for rejecting the ceasefire, but why Hamas? After all, Hamas has been pummeled by the IDF for the past 2 weeks, and have achieved minimal success in the war killing 10 IDF soldiers while Israel has killed hundreds of Hamas militia and have captured dozens more. Actually, Hamas has killed less than 10 Israeli soldiers, at least 3 have been killed in friendly fire incidents. In all the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the history of the Gaza strip, this has been one of the most deadly. Based on these figures, I would guess Hamas is in need of a ceasefire more than Israel.
It seems to me that Hamas’ demands have been met by the rejected ceasefire, at least more than Israel’s. Israeli troops would withdraw from the region, all border crossing would be opened (including the Rafah crossing) removing Israel’s blockage, and humanitarian aid would begin freely flowing into the strip. What else could they possibly bargain for right now?
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Tags: ceasefire, gaza strip, hamas, israel, UN
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January 10th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
There is one reason Hamas doesn’t want to end the conflict – they want more pain to be inflicted on their people. They are playing this smart, because the world is stupid … better yet, incapable of being smart. Hamas’ goal seems to be to let the Arab nations see they are being pummeled and come join them. Lebanon has already started firing missiles. These “animals” as I like to call them know that the only way they could survive, is watch a majority of their population die. For them this might be their best option, because, although the US will never help them, the rest of the world is still undecided.
January 10th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
The conclusive solution to silence radical Palestinian groups will be to establish an international military force to police Gaza and the West Bank headed by a contagion of forces from the more secular Arab countries to ensure the smooth transition to a strong Palestinian state. If there is a well crafted plan to create a Palestinian state, I think most of the Arab countries will readily send troops to help develop a viable Palestinian state.
A peaceful Middle East will definitely have a lot of ramifications. A peaceful Middle East will stem the tide and accelerate a decline in radical Islam. There is no greater hope than that the Israelis and Palestinians get tired of their tortuous past full of wars then sit down and work towards a peaceful Middle East.
Rest of article on http://www.complainary.com here: http://xrl.us/beb6uc
January 10th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Let us pray for the safety of Palestinian civilians who held hostages by Hamas and the safety of Israeli soldiers. May this campaign end swiftly and may Hamas be annihilated. May moderate Muslims emerge victorious in the struggle for Gaza!
http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2009/01/israel-invades-gaza-in-attempt-to.html
January 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
When it comes down to it, one needs to understand the reasons why more and more people are joining the Hamas before jumping to any kind of conclusion. Israel is being supplied with weaponry, have an amazing airforce and some of the most technologically advanced weapons readily available thanks to the warmonger that is the U.S.. What do the people of Palestine have? People keep saying that Hamas needs to be wiped out, but forget that in a grave situation, religion is constantly pushed onto the masses explaining quite simply “this life sucks, but in the next life, you’ll be treated right if you martyr yourself”. What poverty stricken person in a war-torn country would deny that? Now, with the Israel attacks, they are continuing to glorify those who fought and died for Palestine, making Hamas a popular and noble resort for many of the people in Palestine. You want peace between Israel and Palestine? Give the people something better to believe in. Give them the hope of a prosperous life, give them land, food, money, education, and a better standard of life, I guarantee that Hamas’ popularity will decrease in large numbers. One needs to understand that everything in life is connected, be it the economy and crime, or religion and living conditions. Extremism is found in countries where education and democracy is lacking, where poverty is high and hopes for an escape is low. Why else martyr oneself?
And hey, lets not forget the harsh reality, without a real military, those fighting back will always use what is at their disposal, in this case, humans willing to die for a cause and homemade explosives.