Despite
Hamas’ repeated assault on the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the only lifeline
that supplies basic goods to civilians in Gaza, Israel has been battling
intensively to keep it open.
The episode underlines a much wider
phenomenon in which Hamas seeks to create a crisis in order to bring in outside
funding for Gaza’s needs, so it can ensure the stability of its regime and keep
supporting its military wing.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority seeks
to choke off Gaza’s economy to punish Hamas for refusing to disarm
its military wing and force it to pay a price for splitting off from the PA.
However, those paying the price
for this are the residents of the Gaza Strip.
Three times this month, Kerem Shalom was
attacked by mobs acting under Hamas instructions. Rioters destroyed fuel pipes
that carry critical energy supplies and looted the Palestinian side of the
crossing terminal.
According to Israeli intelligence
assessments, these actions are part of a wider effort by Hamas to ramp up the
pressure on Israel and the international community in order to obtain fresh
funds for the collapsing Palestinian economy. The deadly border incidents
orchestrated by Hamas this month are part of the same effort. Hamas wants
someone else to foot the bill for the civilian economy so it can rescue its
regime from collapse.
Gaza’s power plant, for example, runs on
gas, and can supply 150 megawatts of electricity per month. Yet on April 12,
Hamas shut the power plant down completely, cutting off energy
supplies to two million Gazans. Throughout this time, gas was flowing
freely into Gaza from Israel. Despite the daily power cuts to Gaza’s civilians,
Hamas’ tunnels continued to receive power. It is safe to assume that Hamas’
rocket factories also continued to work.
Israel is, in fact, the only country that
has been fighting to keep Gaza supplied with electricity. Egyptian power lines
can deliver 30 megawatts, but have been shut down by Egyptian authorities for
the past four months.
As part of its conflict with Hamas, the PA
reduced payments for electricity. Israel quietly pressured it to reverse this
decision, and the PA did so.
Similarly, at Kerem Shalom, Israel is
working around the clock to keep the crossing open and functional, despite
Hamas’ own attacks on it.
Thanks to these efforts, diesel fuel and
gas tankers have recently resumed the transfer of critical energy supplies to
the Gaza Strip, averting a certain fuel crisis.
For the full report go to https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/05/28/as-gazans-attack-border-crossing-its-israel-not-hamas-coming-to-their-aid/
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