re: #633 lawhawk

Bzzz. Wrong. Gaza has a shared border with Egypt. Egypt too restricts items into Gaza because they’re shipping weapons for war against Israel. Humanitarian relief gets in with no problems. There isn’t a humanitarian crisis in Gaza unless Hamas decides it is necessary for a few photo ops.

Power was allowed into Gaza all through Operation Cast Lead - even though Hamas was in control in Gaza and even when Hamas fired on the very power stations providing power to Gaza. If Israel ever cut power, it would be called a collective punishment against Israel (which was why Hamas tried taking out the power station - so that it could make that very claim).

People are allowed to enter Israel if they clear security - and Hamas has repeatedly attempted attacks against the border crossings and to infiltrate the border to engage in terror attacks, kidnappings, etc.

You’re proposing that Israel stop its security methods for what purpose? So Gazans can enter Israel to engage in terror attacks? Because that is what the end result would be even as some Gazans would no longer be inconvenienced by the security checkpoints (even as Israelis remain inconvenienced by bomb shelters and the need for constant vigilance against infiltrators, rocket attacks, terror attacks, suicide bombings, etc.).

Stop putting words in my mouth. I didn’t say anything about “Israel stopping its security methods.” I’m simply acknowledging the truth. Yes, Egypt has a border they control with Gaza. But the vast majority of border crossings out of Gaza are with Israel. And the vast majority of trade that occurs in Gaza is between Israel and Gaza.

Nobody is saying that Egypt doesn’t have any culpability in this problem. But at the end of the day, it’s going to be negotiations between Israel and Gaza that resolve this problem. Acting like it’s all on the Arab states to resolve the issue is simply a tactic to deflect and stall any substantive discussion about Israel and what concessions may have to be made to secure peace.