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Top of the Agenda: Israel Launches First Gaza Attack Since Cease-Fire
Israel launched on Tuesday its first targeted attack (Reuters)
on a militant in Gaza since its eight-day Pillar of Defense operation
in November, killing a Palestinian in an air strike that put further
strain on a five-month-old cease-fire. The attack comes on the heels of
violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where a Palestinian killed a
Jewish settler. Hamas, which rules Gaza, condemned the Israeli attack
but also signaled eagerness to preserve the truce. Meanwhile, Arab
countries endorsed a Mideast peace plan (Haaretz) Monday that allowed for shifts in Israel's 1967 border, moving them closer to President Barack Obama's two-state vision.
Analysis
"It seems that the main, if not the only, difference among the initiatives
is that the policy during the Bush administration (2001 to 2009) was
ABC — Anything But Clinton; when Obama took over in 2009, the policy
gave way to ABB — Anything But Bush. And the unfortunate result of these
games of ego and politics is the same: ABP — Anything But Peace,"
writes Akiva Eldar for al-Monitor.
"Nothing can change unless Mr Obama chooses to lead. Mr Kerry's economic initiative may lead to marginal improvements
in a Palestinian economy strangled by the occupation. Mr Obama now
needs to put flesh and bones on the vision of Palestine he evoked last
month," writes a Financial Times editorial.
"Some Israeli analysts suggested that with Hamas governing Gaza - the coastal territory should be stabilised and treated as a state separate from the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority controls Palestinian areas," writes Yolande Knell for the BBC.
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