Serangan Israel Ke Gaza Adalah Persekongkolan Negara Arab Untuk Melemahkan Hamas

Serangan Israel Ke Gaza Adalah Persekongkolan Negara Arab Untuk Melemahkan Hamas

SUMBER: almanar.com.lb

Key Arab States Hope for Weakened Hamas!!!??? 

29/12/2008 The war in the Gaza Strip spilled over into Egypt Sunday when dozens of Gaza residents crossed the border only to encounter Egyptian gunfire aimed at driving them back. The ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has become a symbol of Cairo’s policy, which critics charge is one of collaborating with Israel to impose economic sanctions on the Strip. Judging by Arab leaders’ statements to the media, or the slogans shouted by demonstrators in several Arab capitals, one might have thought that Egypt, not Israel, was the one waging war on Gaza.


Egypt has closed Rafah crossing, the only way that links the Palestinians in Gaza to the outside world, since months, thus participating in the Israeli tight siege against the Palestinians in the Strip. Despite many calls for Cairo to open it and let the humanitarian aids enter Gaza, the Egyptian government remained on its stance under the pretext that there was no legal authority to deal with.

Hamas’ demand that Egypt open Rafah to all Gazans, and not just to the wounded seeking treatment abroad, has been rejected in part because Egypt remains committed to what it says “an Israeli-Palestinian agreement” from 2005 that governs the Gaza border crossings, even though it was never a signatory to the pact.

Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that Cairo will long be able to withstand the enormous pressure being generated by the Arab media and public.

Thus far, Hamas has not succeeded in generating an Arab diplomatic initiative that would lead to a renewed cease-fire on its terms. Egypt and Saudi Arabia prefer to wait a bit in the hopes that Israel’s military operation will strip Hamas of its ability to dictate terms. And without those two states, the Arab League will have trouble even convening an emergency summit. Granted, such a summit has limited practical value.