Israel continues war against Gaza on three fronts

Despite Hamas agreeing to, and sustaining, a cessation of hostilities, Israel has continued to crush Gaza underfoot, attacking with overwhelming military force, maintaining the crushing economic embargo, and applying sustained diplomatic pressure to prevent other nations from salving the widespread suffering of the general population. At the end of the 22 day air and ground assault dubbed "Operation Cast Lead" which devastated the tiny region and killed over 1300 people, world response was swift and compassionate to a degree not seen before with respect to Gaza's 18 months of deprivation under the Israeli embargo. Donations of food, medicine, funds, and essential supplies poured in at an unprecedented rate, but for the most part were stymied as Israel maintained a strangle hold over the border crossings and imposed complicated procedures that delayed or prevented entry to the Strip. Dozens of tractor trailers stood idly in the Sinai desert for days on end due to the rigorous inspections and convoluted entry routes that Israel insisted upon. In the week following Israel's so-called cease fire, the gates of Rafah crossing were opened for only 19 hours. Foreign journalists are still prohibited from entry. Even diplomats are not exempt from danger, as a group of European diplomats were blocked at a border crossing and fired upon by Israeli soldiers. France summoned Israel's ambassador to protest the action. Israel, in keeping with their policy of unapologetic propaganda, denied that it happened. Monetary and material aid have also been stymied by Israel's demand that any and all such aid must pass through Fatah rather than Hamas. Fatah lost its majority control of the Palestinian Parliament in the 2006 elections, and was forcibly expelled from Gaza after attempting a coup in March of 2007. To this day they have no official presence there, nor relations with their rival Hamas. However Israel insists on negotiating with Fatah leader and former Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, even though his term officially expired weeks ago, and he has no authority whatsoever in Gaza. Saudi Arabia has committed $1 Billion to aid relief efforts in Gaza, but not one penny has yet reached the victims of the assault. Inside Gaza, dozens of injured civilians continue to die every day in hospital waiting rooms. Exhausted Gazan medical staff have gotten some relief as international agencies such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) have brought in some personnel. But the arduous trek through Israeli checkpoints has limited their numbers, and their efforts have been complicated due to lack of medicines, anesthetic, equipment, and tables. In the face of revelations that Hamas would agree to recognize Israel, and the two-month cessation of Qassam rocket firing during September and October of 2008, Israel moved the goalposts for opening the border crossings, creating a new contingency that captured Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit must be returned before any negotiations could even take place. Marek Halter, a French Jew and Holocaust survivor met with Hamas political Chairman Khaled Meshal just prior to Operation Cast Lead. Halter says he informed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that Meshal, speaking for Hamas, has agreed to recognize Israel within the borders set by the United Nations prior to the Six Day War in 1967. According to Halter, Meshal feared that otherwise Hamas risked "becoming irrelevant". Ironically, Hamas' popularity has surged as a result of Israel's 22-day pummeling of Gaza. Israel has offered to free hundred of imprisoned Palestinians in exchange for Corporal Shalit, but Hama has steadfastly refused to release him. Israel's assault on Gaza has never really come to an end, belying the so-called "cease fire" it declared on Jan 18. Just a few hours later, Israeli drones dropped missiles on Beit Hanoun, killing an 11-year-old girl, and a 23-year-old farmer was shot by IDF soldiers. Within five days, Israel resumed shelling of the Gaza coastline, terrorizing fisherman and injuring at least four children. Violence escalated on Jan 27 when an Israeli Bedouin tracker was killed and two soldiers were injured by an IED detonated just over the Gaza border where they were patrolling in the Negev Desert. Israeli retaliation was swift, with closing of all border crossings and renewed shelling of structures along the Gaza-Egypt border that are associated with the network of tunnels used to smuggle goods into the Strip. Prime Minister Olmert declared that Hamas was responsible for the attack, even though the IDF reported that it was carried out by an obscure al-Qaeda affiliated group that is at odds with Hamas. Precision guided Isreali missiles struck the ringleader of the group as he was riding a motorcycle in Khan Younis, inflicting critical injury, but also wounded nine bystanders, most of them children. Olmert promised that further retaliation would be forthcoming. On Jan 28 the IDF alleged that a Qassam rocket was fired from Gaza into the Negev, and another was lobbed into the Israeli town of Sdrerot from northern Gaza. Neither caused any damage or injuries. Israeli warplanes bombed a sheet metal shop in retaliation, and tanks invaded Gaza near the town of Deir Al-Balah, bulldozing agricultural land. Newly appointed US envoy George Mitchell arrived in the region with instructions from US President Obama to "start by listening". But it was not long before Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was speaking confidently on his behalf, assuring the world that "there is no contradiction between the stances of the United States and Israel. Both the United States and Israel want peace and believe that we must fight against terror, chiefly Hamas and Iran." In keeping with the policy of the previous Administration, Mitchell confirmed that the US would not be negotiating with Hamas, despite the fact that British Middle East envoy Tony Blair had declared that the so-called Quartet–Europe, Russia, the United States and United Nations–would deal with Hamas if it accepted a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.