Israel’s mission in Gaza is not about security — so what is it about?
Israel’s mission in Gaza is not about security — so what is it about?
By Nadia Hijab, Special to CNN
updated 10:09 AM EST, Tue November 20, 2012
Editor’s note: Nadia Hijab is Director of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, and a frequent public speaker and media commentator. She also serves as senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies. Hijab’s first book, Womanpower: The Arab debate on women at work was published by Cambridge University Press.
(CNN) — Let’s be clear: Israel’s latest operation in Gaza is not about security. Cease-fires between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel have brought security for months on end and there is ample evidence to show that Israel is largely responsible for truce breakdowns.
Israel decided to escalate the conflict last Wednesday with its assassination of Hamas leader Ahmed al-Ja’abari despite a truce that had been observed by all Palestinian factions during the previous two days. And even though they knew that al-Ja’abari had just received a proposal for a permanent truce agreement with Israel, as revealed in Haaretz.
Some analysts have tied Israel’s latest operation to the forthcoming elections, a way of cementing victory for Benjamin Netanyahu. Previous prime ministers have tried it, and failed. Netanyahu had previously avoided such operations but he seems to have succumbed, although events can spiral out of his control, as Hamas hits near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem have shown.
But at the end of the day, the loss of Palestinian lives will far exceed that of Israelis. During Israel’s last major operation against Gaza, the devastating three-week assault it launched on December 27, 2008 despite a cease-fire that had held for months, nearly 1,400 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured, compared to 13 Israelis (four from friendly fire.) In the present attacks, more than 100 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed so far. —->Continued
