Steven Erlanger reports Israel Vows Not to Block Supplies to Gaza. So apparently in an attempt to help control the chaos on the Gaza-Egypt border Israel intends to keep a steady flow of necessities going into Gaza so that Gaza residents won’t be inclined to cross the border en masse in search of luxuries and necessities in Egypt.However, Israel intends to supply lesser amounts of diesel for Gaza’s generator than it had before. It will provide enough to keep the generator going, but not continuously.
The article notes toward the end.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit of Egypt met in Cairo with the appointed Palestinian prime minister based in Ramallah, Salam Fayyad, and said Egypt would soon take “necessary actions and measures†to control the border. Mr. Fayyad, an Abbas ally, wants the Palestinian Authority to be given control of the crossings and the Palestinian side of the border, with the supervision of European Union monitors, as it was before June, when Hamas routed Fatah to take control of Gaza.But a senior Israeli official, who demanded anonymity because of the delicacy of the topic, said: “As far as we’re concerned it doesn’t seem to be such a strong idea, given the weakness of Abbas. And given that Hamas is there, one can assume it wouldn’t be too difficult for them to take de facto control.â€
The European Union monitors? Yes what were they doing all this time?
I refer you to some research that Elder of Ziyon did. (This is the sort of thing any reporter worth his salt ought to have done. I suspect that most Israel correspondents did not.)
Elder of Ziyon contacted the monitors. The response he got suggested (if I’m reading it correctly) that the EU monitors were there mostly for show. Additionally, Egypt was not a part of the agreement, meaning that Egypt and Hamas could circumvent the EU monitors.
Three weeks ago, during the Hajj episode, Elder of Ziyon noted:
According to a report in London Al-Quds al-Arabi, Israel has written letters to Washington and the EU requesting taking over Rafah again and giving the EU observers control again over people crossing over.
Perhaps unstated was a concern, not only about the hajj and the personnel and materiel that could be sneaked through at that time, but about the status of the border fence. Clearly Israel couldn’t do anything about it with the arrangement as it was then, even if Israel knew about it. The parties that could and should have been aware of the sabotage going on didn’t lift a finger to stop it. (The EU in Gaza has been as effective as the UN in Israel’s north.)
If Israel is skeptical of an arrangement of EU monitors partnered with PA security officials, that skepticism, borne of experience, is well warranted.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
