Hezbollah played another card in the deterrence game. They released a video showing their underground missile arsenal and launch positions. They even enumerated (in Arabic) the names of the villages where they are located. I’m sure Israeli intelligence already knows about all of the, and I’m equally sure they will be rechecking all of them. In any case, no one is expecting either side will do anything to disrupt the negotiations that have been reported as the best chance yet to end the war.
One of the Hamas demands that some western media ignores is that Gaza must be rebuilt. Israel is hardly likely to undertake anything like that alone. The UN and other nations have paid for similar projects in the past (That’s how Hama financed everything before). A major element in ensuring that there will be no new Hamas attack from Gaza is to prevent them from being able to finance it.
Anyone who donates to such activities needs to have tight control over how, where, and why all funds are spent. The Japanese learned this a few rounds of spasm warfare ago. When Japan agreed to help in building a new hospital in Gaza a few years ago the Japanese did not give any money directly to Hamas. They exercised direct control over the entire project (and it frustrated the Hamas leadership).
I’d like to briefly review items I’ve mentioned before; Hamas does not pay for terrorist activities, they rely on funds skimmed from donations for other activities. Humanitarian aid shipments for Gazans are hijacked by Hamas. They keep what they need and resell the rest (which they never paid for) to supporters (who share the profits with them), some funds have been transferred directly to the personal accounts of Hamas leaders (making them multi-millionaires). The war is not really about Palestinians, or their “rights”.
Wetherhorn 