Humanitarian considerations

In order to pursue its policy of deterring rocket attacks on its civilians Israel has to justify the military actions with the legal authorities to determine What exactly is a humanitarian crisis?

The officer of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories is government’s eyes and ears on this matter.The office includes several departments responsible for doing the job. For example, one section maintains contacts with international aid organizations and other groups that monitor Gaza, while another is responsible for maintaining contacts with Palestinian officials in charge of infrastructure in the Strip, including electricity and water.

This is the body that provides the cabinet with the relevant data and carries out research on questions raised by the government.

For example, when Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided to reduce the Israeli supply of electricity to Gaza, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz asked for details about which power lines supplied power to hospitals and other humanitarian facilities, to make sure their supply would not be harmed by the measure.

As long as Mazuz is satisfied that a specific government measure within a range of measures that he has approved will not damage these fundamental humanitarian requirements, he will okay them.

That, at least, is the theory.

There’s no word whether Meshaal and Haniyeh discuss at what point Qassams cause a humanitarian crisis in Sderot.

Interestingly a Saudi editor comes close to getting it right.

Abdel Rahman Rashed, a Saudi national serving as general manager of the pan-Arab Arabiya news channel, said Hamas was responsible for the suffering of some 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.”Hamas committed a stupid act when it gave the Israelis an excuse to launch attacks in retaliation for a few antique rockets,” Rashed wrote in the London-based daily Asharq Al- Awsat.

“Prior to that, Hamas committed a big crime against the Palestinian people by overthrowing the Palestinian Authority [in the Gaza Strip]. The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have suffered a lot because of Hamas’s actions. Hamas is bringing Israel back into the Gaza Strip after it was liberated by the Palestinian groups.”

Rashed questioned the wisdom of firing rockets and mortars at Israel which, he said, was only increasing the suffering of the Palestinians, let alone that they were not causing much harm to Israel. He pointed out that “only” 10 Israelis were wounded in the recent attacks as opposed to the “huge disaster” that has befallen the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Rashed is regarded by many Arab journalists as an unofficial spokesman for the Saudi royal family. He previously served as editor-in-chief of the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper and his writings regularly reflect the views of the Saudi establishment.

It would be nice if there was someone also acknowledging that the blackouts were staged. Still it’s true that if Hamas wasn’t attacking Sderot, Israel wouldn’t be restricting fuel shipments to Gaza.

Still, with the active complicity of the international media, Hamas is turning this episode into a PR victory. (H/T Backspin)

Some of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s top aides were convinced that the countdown to Hamas’s collapse would begin immediately after large parts of the Gaza Strip were plunged into darkness Sunday night.But the PA leaders were in for an unpleasant surprise.

Instead of seeing anti-Hamas demonstrators, the PA officials in the Mukata presidential compound got televised footage of children and women holding candles in the dark streets of Gaza City.

Al-Jazeera and other Arab TV networks carried live coverage of the peaceful protesters, many of whom blamed not only Israel, but the PA government and the rest of the Arab countries for their plight.

The pictures coming out of the Gaza Strip were so damning for the PA that some of its representatives accused Al-Jazeera of serving Hamas’s interests and inciting against Abbas.

(No, it’s just Al-Jazeera, go to Google News and search on “Palestinians candles” – currently 520 results – and then search on “Sderot damage” – currently 299 results.)

According to the New York Times, Israel has now resumed allowing some necessities into Gaza.

As aid officials warned that Gaza, gripped by fuel and electricity shortages, was two or three days from a health and food crisis, international alarm mounted and criticism of Israel intensified.Israeli officials said they had made the decision after reviewing the situation in Gaza, which they had insisted they would not allow to become a relief crisis, and after seeing a reduction in rocket fire. They denied that international pressure was a factor.

Mr. Barak ordered the closing of border crossings into Gaza on Thursday night, halting all imports, in response to last week’s intense rocket fire against Israel by militant groups in the Gaza Strip, which is run by Hamas.

No goods have been allowed in since, and Gaza shut down its only power station on Sunday as the industrial diesel needed to fuel it ran out.

And when rocket fire intensifies again, will we see the same interest in the daily travails of the residents of Sderot. Probably when Haniyeh and Meshaal start considering the humanitarian crisis in Sderot.

More here.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.