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 | Daily News Brief July 16, 2014 |
Top of the Agenda
Israel Ramps Up Gaza Campaign
Hundreds of Gazan families evacuated their homes on Wednesday following warnings of further airstrikes (AP) as Israel threatened to launch ground operations (Reuters) in the Palestinian enclave. Overnight Tuesday, Israel bombed the homes of Hamas political leaders, while Gaza-fired rockets were intercepted over Tel Aviv, following an abortive cease-fire (NYT).
Palestinian deaths in the current round of fighting surpassed two
hundred, according to health officials, while Israel suffered its first
fatality. Meanwhile, reports emerged that Egypt's cease-fire proposal
was hammered out without the knowledge of much of the Israeli cabinet,
and took Hamas officials by surprise (Haaretz).
Analysis
"In
the absence of effective Egyptian participation, and with Hamas's
political leadership holed up in Doha, a vital key to a cease-fire seems
unavailable. Hamas is therefore on autopilot,
trying to wrest any tangible win from a slugging match that has barely
damaged Israel, while exposing the Gazan people to constant air assault
and the possibility of a costly ground invasion. It has no outside
allies to call upon; no friendly power it can claim has compelled it to
back down," writes Steven Simon for the Middle East Institute.
"For
Hamas, Egypt's involvement must go further than reinstating a simple
cease-fire based on 'quiet-for-quiet' between the two sides, while
leaving political developments for future discussions. The recent
proposal is strikingly similar to the 2012 agreement, which began to
fall apart soon after it became clear that the promised normalization of
Gaza would not be forthcoming. Stability between Hamas and Israel will require a long-term political approach for Gaza," write Benedetta Berti and Zack Gold in Foreign Affairs.
"Mr
Netanyahu's problem is not victory per se – but, rather, victory to
what end? His difficulty in closing out this latest round originates
from his lack of an end game, in either Gaza or the West Bank
– at least not one he will acknowledge publicly. He does not want to
reoccupy Gaza and to formally reassume responsibility for its 1.7m
inhabitants. He knows responsibility cannot be forced on Egypt and he
has no interest in handing Gaza to Mr Abbas in order to strengthen the
moderate Palestinian camp," writes Daniel Levy in the Financial Times.
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