Gaza's Dangerous War Zone

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright June 3, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

              While Americans celebrated Memorial Day, the Israeli navy engaged in its latest skirmish in the Mediterranean, intercepting a flotilla of six Turkish-sponsored boats heading to the Gaza Strip with “humanitarian” aid.  Israel’s blockade on Gaza began June 14, 2007 when Hamas seized the Palestinian Authority-controlled area, continuing the war of resistance against the Jewish State.  Israel had made good progress working with West Bank-based Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas until Hamas seized Gaza, immediately resuming rocket attacks across the Israeli border.  Unlike the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, Hamas has not signed on to any peace agreement with Israel, refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist and continuing its state of war.  So when Turkish-based pro-Palestinian charities sponsored a humanitarian flotilla, they sailed into a minefield.

            Boarding one of the boats in the morning of May 31, Israeli commandos exhchanged fire with Turkish passengers or crew, resulting in 10 civilian deaths.  Any time Israeli personnel board ships on the high seas to check for weapons, there’s a possibility for mishaps.  While Turkish and Palestinians ambassadors seized the incident to highlight Israeli aggression, the unfortunate event underscores the need to continue the peace process.  Turkish officials knew before the flotilla left Cypress that the Gaza blockade was in effect and the ships were subject to Israeli inspections.  “No state is above the law,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuloglu, outraged by the incident.  “Israel must be held accountable,” calling the incident “piracy” and “murder by a state,” ignoring the Israeli blockade.  If Hamas were not in a state of war with Israeli, Israel would end its blockade.

            Britain’s U.N. ambassador Mark Lyall Grant called on Israel to end the blockade without acknowledging the reality of Hamas’ ongoing war.  Grant called for an investigation into the high death toll from what amounted to a routine inspection.  Israeli officials insist that when commandos boarded the civilian craft either crew members or passengers attacked Israeli sailors, prompting the violent response.  U.S. deputy permanent representative to the U.N. Alejandro Wolf reminded the British Foreign Minister that the Turkish flotilla should have gone through proper channels before going to Gaza, a declared war zone.  “These non-provocative and non-confrontational mechanisms should be the ones used for the benefit of all those in Gaza,” said Wolf, reminding aggrieved parties that the Turkish “humanitarian” relief flotilla did not go through proper channels.

            Given the state of war with Hamas and all the arms smuggling into Gaza, relief organizations must follow the prescribed protocol or face inherent dangers.  Maintaining the embargo, Israeli officials, too, must show more professionalism when conducting onboard inspections.  If crew or passengers, in fact, opened fire on Israeli soldiers, then Israeli seaman have a right to self-defense.  Whatever supplies the Turkish-sponsored flotilla brought to Gaza, it was eclipsed by the political message of breaking the Israeli and Egyptian blockade.  While it’s tempting to bash only Israel, Egyptians have also clamped down on smuggling through the elaborate tunnel system, designed to deliver consumer goods and arms into the once Egyptian territory before the 1967 Six-Day War.  Delivering goods by sea was a last ditch effort to bring vital aid to Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinian residents.

            Hamas’ 46-year-old Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority since his victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections March 29, 2006, seized Gaza from Ramallah-based PNA President Mahmoud Abbas June 14, 2007.  Since that time, Haniyeh has continued the Palestinians’ war of resistance against what they call Israeli occupation.  Israel officially left Gaza Sept. 12, 2005 under a withdrawal agreement by former conservative Israeli Likud leader and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.  Palestinians don’t acknowledge that the Gaza Strip was never Palestinian territory but rather a part of Egypt before the Six-Day War.  Haniyeh’s refusal to honor any prior peace agreement negotiated by the late Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat and continue the war against Israel, creating the hostile state between Israel and Gaza.

            Given the state of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, it’s dangerous for any humanitarian group or country to ferry goods into the tiny seaside nation.  Defying a blockade carried certain risks, especially if ships were detained for inspections.  Israeli Navy forces bear a heavy burden to make sure that forced Naval inspections minimize altercations, especially violence.  As long as Gaza remains at war with Israel, humanitarian groups take overwhelming risks defying blockades and making political statements.  “They are not peace activists, they are not messengers of good will,” said Israeli spokesman and U.N. deputy representative David Carmon.  Given the state of war, both sides need to show the utmost caution to avoid the kind of deadly mishap seen on Memorial Day.  Charitable groups and peace activists shouldn’t be exploited by those making political statements.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.