There have been a few new developments since my morning post that I thought needed to be addressed.
First, the border crossing at Rafah is being opened for some people. Beneficiaries include about 80 injured Palestinians whom Hamas is allowing to be transferred to medical facilities in Egyptian territory. Another category of people allowed to leave are holders of foreign passports. The first group of them crossed today. This did not include anyone holding a US passport, but sources say they will also be allowed to leave, possibly as early as tomorrow. To me, this sudden change of heart by Hamas, who had previously refused to allow departures by such individuals, is an indication that they are trying, possibly desperately, to garner some good will and support for the idea of humanitarian cease-fire. Whatever the reason, it’s a welcome step. But notice that this does NOT include anyone who was kidnapped from Israel nearly 4 weeks ago.
Second, there are media claims of “settler violence” against West Bank Palestinians. It looks like this stems from the IDF actually enforcing a court order to evict several thousand Palestinians who have been living in a military live gunfire range in the south. The original group was nomadic herdsmen and their families, and when the Palestinian Authority saw what was going on they sent organizers to get more people to move into the area. The result was a court case, filed a long time ago, that ended with an order for the Palestinians to leave. They didn’t. Now a New York based UN official from the Human Rights division has seen fit to try to interfere with the court decision and to call this a case of settler violence against Palestinians. He has been aided by an Israeli rights group called B’Tselem that has been championing Palestinian causes for years. Sometimes their claims do actually have merit. This does not look lie one of them. As far as I know, no complaint has been made to the Israeli Police or the IDF (responsible for civil affairs in many parts of the West Bank).
There may have been some cases of confrontations between “settlers” and Palestinians that I am unaware of. One such incident followed an occurrence when Palestinians fired on an Israeli car with a mother and her children. They weren’t harmed, but residents of an Israeli town nearby did threaten violence and the IDF had to restrain BOTH sides.
Third, there is the case of Jabalya refugee camp. Hamas seems to have sensed an opportunity to make some propaganda points. For now, the camp is still under their control. That means that all the pictures and stories from the camp go through the Hamas censors. I noticed one clip in which a “victim” was being carried away on a stretcher, but his clothes appeared very clean for someone who had just been dug out of a pile of rubble.
The news directors at the major networks have a serious dilemma, The Israelis won’t tell them anything that might prejudice their ongoing military operations; and the Hamas side only provides material with a VERY questionable pedigree. I can’t blame them for going with the only material they have, but they owe their viewers a statement as to the reliability of what they show.
Wetherhorn 