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An Embargo on Gaza
by Dov Weisglass
- There is overall consent that Israel must respond forcefully and with resolve to the Hamas rampage in Gaza. Since Israel disengaged from Gaza, Israeli occupation there came to an end. Israel is not currently positioned in Gaza; it is not occupying it and is not responsible for the welfare of its residents. Control of Gaza, in practice, is in the hands of the Hamas administration. Although no one recognizes it, de facto, Gaza is being run as a state under the rule of that regime.
- The "State of Gaza" is conducting a war against the State of Israel: A daily barrage of rockets on Israeli territory is a blatant act of aggression, and therefore the State of Israel has the right to employ every means of defense and assault accepted by international law as an appropriate response to such acts.
- Economic pressure (embargo) has for years been recognized by international law as a legitimate act for a country to resort to in times of conflict. Such measures inevitably harm innocent civilians. The international embargo on Iraq during Saddam Hussein's reign harmed innocent Iraqis who were Saddam's victims; the American embargo on Iran is harming tens of millions of Iranians who have absolutely nothing to do with military nuclear development. The writer, a lawyer, was former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief and senior adviser. (YNet News)
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Faced with Sderot and Gaza
Editorial
- Communities in the western Negev are now enduring their seventh year of rocket attacks. Israel's inability to halt these attacks stems from fear that the cost of a military operation in the Gaza Strip, which the Israel Defense Forces left two years ago, would be higher than the benefits.
- The distress of Israel's government, which is responsible for defending its citizens, periodically gives rise to desperate ideas. One such idea is hitting Gaza's water and electricity networks. Stopping the flow of water and electricity is a painful and punishing step, but ostensibly not a fatal one. Its goal is to cause the Palestinian public to pressure Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stop the fire.
- This idea is complete nonsense. Factually speaking, cutting off water and electricity can kill. Moreover, there is no proof that making the Palestinian public suffer would make Hamas take pity on it and embark on a cease-fire. On the contrary: Hamas consistently sabotages the flow of essential goods through Gaza's border terminals. What is being presented as a way to avoid war is counterproductive, immoral and illegal.
- It is hard to believe that serious people would mouth off first and consult the lawyers only afterward. In reality, they understand that there is no chance of getting legal approval for deliberate harm to civilians at a time when countries, officers and ministers are facing war crimes charges in The Hague. (Ha'aretz)
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