Palestinian Authority: Of Course Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Is Manufactured By Hamas (Plus: United Nations Still Trying To Blame Israel)
Hamas is widely expect to revert to all out war after the six-month, perennially shaky ceasefire expires in December. That would be a full month after they went back to attacking Israeli troops and two months after they went back to their kidnapping attempts. Israeli civilians had to suffer dozens of rocket barrages before Israel took even limited direct action. This week there were so many rockets that even Britain's Foreign Secretary had to take notice before he went back to saying that Israel must make concessions to the Palestinians.
Despite all this Israel has ensured that Gaza has enough food, fuel, and energy to avoid a humanitarian crisis. You know how I know that? Because Palestinian journalists and the Palestinian government said so:
Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah accused Hamas on Tuesday of staging the latest blackouts in the Gaza Strip in a bid to win sympathy and incite the Palestinian public against Israel and the PA. The officials said that contrary to Hamas's claim, there is no shortage of basic goods, medicine and fuel in the Gaza Strip, largely thanks to the many underground tunnels along the border with Egypt... Earlier this year, Palestinian journalists in Gaza City told The Jerusalem Post that scenes of Palestinian children and women holding lit candles in the dark had been staged by Hamas and some Arab satellite TV stations. "There's no shortage of fuel in the Gaza Strip and the Electricity Company is continuing to function normally," said a PA official. "Our people in the Gaza Strip have told us that the blackouts are all staged as part of the Hamas propaganda."
Which means that the Palestinian Authority - led by a guy who three days ago was threatening to go to war with Israel - is less inclined to scapegoat Israel than Israeli-Arab MKs who are under oath to serve the country or United Nations officials who are supposed to evaluate international controversies objectively:
Israel reacted angrily to comments made Tuesday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in which she called for an immediate end to its blockade of the Gaza Strip... Pillay's demands provoked an angry response from Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, who accused her of being utterly shortsighted and repeating blatant misinformation... Leshno-Yaar also rejected Pillay's claim that Israel has cut off essential supplies to Gaza. "Electricity and water continue to flow from Israel to Gaza, and 33 trucks laden with supplies arrived in Gaza yesterday, with more waiting to enter as soon as Hamas ends its violent attacks," he said.
Ban Ki-moon also just got done echoing Hamas's propaganda in a phone conversation with Olmert. This like the time when Carter was more stridently pro-Hamas than the Palestinian government - albeit without Ban being already widely recognized as an anti-Semite.
And remember when I said that the Israeli election cycle - if nothing else - might finally force the Israeli government to defend its citizens? Turns out not so much:
A changing of the guard at the helm of the IDF's Gaza Division is to take place Wednesday morning, despite the continued Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. Last week, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi postponed the ceremony, at which Brig.-Gen. Eyal Eizenberg is to replace Brig.-Gen. Moshe Tamir. That move was interpreted as a possible indicator that Israel was considering launching a wide-scale operation inside Gaza. "This is not the case," a senior IDF source said Tuesday.
At least Hamas doesn't have a huge army that they've equipped via smuggling tunnels run on Israeli electricity. That would be a surreal demonstration of the absurdity of international humanitarianism.
References:
* Hamas not to renew ceasefire [YNet]
* Hamas Launching Dozens Of Rockets From Palestinian Neighborhoods, Attacking Israeli Troops (Plus: US Announces $14 Million In New Aid) [MR]
* Revealed: IDF foiled kidnap bid, arrested infiltrator from Gaza [Ha'aretz]
* 5 Qassam rockets hit south [YNet]
* Gaza City blacked out after rockets hit Israel [YNet]
* Palestinians Firing Missile Barrages At Israeli Hospitals Treating Gaza Residents (Plus: Israeli Response Somewhat Underwhelming, Constrained) [MR]
* Miliband tours Sderot with Barak, calls rocket attacks 'intolerable' [JPost]
* Israel Responds To Long-Range Rocket Attacks By Sending Food And Medicine Into Gaza (Plus: Gaza Markets Still Bustling) [Video] [MR]
* PA: 'Hamas is staging Gaza blackouts' [JPost]
* Moderate State Department Darling Abbas: We'll Declare War If Israel Doesn't Withdraw [MR]
*MK Zahalka, preparing to board Gaza protest boat, calls Israeli siege 'a crime' [Ha'aretz]
* Israel outraged at UN remarks urging end to Gaza blockade [Ha'aretz]
* Ban expresses concern to Olmert over humanitarian situation in Gaza [JPost]
* Abbas: "Please Cut Off Hamas". Carter: "US Should Embrace Hamas" [MR]
* Major Jewish Groups To Carter: We'd Love To Talk To You, But You're Just Too Anti-Semitic [MR]
* Shaky Ceasefire Now Being Shaken Daily By Hamas Rockets [MR]
* New IDF Gaza commander to assume post [JPost]
* Hamas Has A Trained and Armed Military of 7,500 Troops [MR]
* Hamas Hooks Up Smuggling Tunnels To Israeli-Supplied Electricity Grid (Plus: Hamas Online Courses Teach Math, Genocidal Terrorism) [MR]
Previously:
* World Bank: Failure Of Corrupt, Mismanaged, Civil War Hampered Palestinian Economy Is Israel's Fault
* Hamas: Of Course We'll Never Stop Attacking "Zionist Enemies Of God"
* Israel Foils Massive Impending Attack, Hamas Responds With Massive Missile Attack - It's A Cycle Of Violence!
