The neglect and mistreatment of the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip is a disgrace, and a very dangerous one. They are pawns in the struggle among Hamas, which controls Gaza and uses the territory to bombard Israel daily; its rivals in the Fatah movement that run the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank; and Israel. If something isn’t done quickly to address the Gazans’ plight, President Bush’s Annapolis peace process could implode.
It is no wonder that tens of thousands of Palestinians rushed out of Gaza into Egypt on Wednesday after a metal border wall was toppled. Life for Gazans, never easy, has been worsening since Hamas seized control last summer, and most international aid — except humanitarian assistance — was cut off. Hamas has turned a deaf ear to the Gazans’ plight, refusing to negotiate peace or accept Israel’s right to exist.
Life got truly desperate last week when Israel, reacting to a sustained and intense barrage of rocket fire, blockaded Gaza and stopped all shipments except emergency supplies. When the border wall was breached on Wednesday, Gazans went on a buying spree in Egypt, stocking up on fuel, medicine, soap, cigarettes, cement, chickens and goats.
We are deeply concerned about the many innocent Israelis who live along the border with Gaza and must suffer through the constant bombardment. But Israel’s response — shutting off power and other essential supplies — is a collective punishment that will only feed anger and extremism.
Mr. Bush has said that he is committed to negotiating a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians before he leaves office next year. Allowing Gaza to fester or to erupt into an all-out military confrontation is the surest way to bury that dream.
New, more vigorous strategies are required. Arab states, who for years have pleaded the Palestinian case and have thrown their support behind the Annapolis peace process, must use their influence (and their oil profits) to pressure Hamas’s leaders to halt rocket attacks, renounce terrorism and align with Fatah in pursuit of a peace deal.
Egypt, whose stature as a peacemaker has withered under President Hosni Mubarak, should take immediate, robust steps to shut down the tunnels that allow arms and money to flow to militants in Gaza. It should also accept more responsibility for securing the common border. No Israeli prime minister can sign a peace deal if it doesn’t make Israel more secure.
The Bush administration, the Israelis and many in Fatah have hoped that squeezing Gaza ever more tightly would force Palestinians there to turn away from Hamas. This week’s chaos is proof of that strategy’s high risks.
Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who is now the Western envoy for Palestinian economic development, needs to come up with an aid strategy that ensures Gazans aren’t forced to suffer — without rewarding Hamas. Mr. Bush needs to appoint a high-level envoy to deal with this and the dozens of other crises waiting to boil over. Gaza is a reminder that nothing in the peace effort can be ignored or taken for granted.
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