Hamas opposes bringing stranded Gazans back to territory through Israeli-run crossing

[oberliner]

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Hamas said Monday it opposes a proposal to allow thousands of Gazans stranded in Egypt for the past month to return home through an Israeli-run crossing.

About 6,000 Palestinians have been trapped in Egypt since the June 9 closure of the Gaza-Egypt border as a result of bloody factional fighting in Gaza. In the battle, Hamas defeated security forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and posted its gunmen along the border.

Israel has proposed rerouting the stranded passengers through the Kerem Shalom crossing it controls, near the meeting point of Gaza, Egypt and Israel. However, Hamas rejected the idea, saying the travelers must be allowed to return through the Gaza-Egypt border, which is not controlled by Israel.

The Palestinians won control of the Rafah terminal at the Gaza-Egypt border in 2005, following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. Many fear accepting Kerem Shalom as an alternative crossing will place Palestinian movement under Israel's direct control again, and make it increasingly unlikely Rafah will reopen.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/09/africa/ME-GEN-Palestinians-Stranded-Gazans.php

[LeftishBrit]

1. Depressing...

It seems that Hamas are placing political over humanitarian considerations.

And since this is the case: what is Egypt going to do about it?

[pelsar]

2. Egypt will do nothing...

the ISM, the UN, the doctors without borders, journalists without borders, ANSWER, etc will all do NOTHING.....even here you will hear no calls for egypt to open their borders......you ask why?

well Egypt doesnt want the palestenians using rafah as a regular border passage. They dont want the "security headache" that goes with it. Same goes for bringing in food etc. Thats simply their policy.

Perhaps you might wonder why there is no intl pressure to open the gates....well i think after all these years of us israelis screaming "double standard" and the reply being "of course not"...it is now very clear. There is no pressure on egypt because there are lesser expectations of egypt....its not a democracy and does not have western democratic values...israel does and hence will react to western pressures that include a simaler value system that includes humanitariun aid.....

in short, the double standard. One for western democratic countries, a different one for non democratic systems.

[Scurrilous]

3. Fatah Calls for Monitors to Return to Gaza

<snip>

"Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat has called for the European monitors to return to the Rafah terminal and end the suffering of thousands of people stranded at the crossing for almost a month.

The return of the international monitors will reopen the terminal and allow some 6, 000 people stuck at the Egyptian side of the terminal to reenter Gaza, Erekat said.

The European monitors intend to continue their work at the crossing but in reduced numbers, the head of the European Union’s Mission at the Rafah crossing, Maj.-Gen. Pietro Pistolese, told Erekat during a meeting in Jericho yesterday.

Some 87 EU monitors have been overseeing the Rafah crossing with Egypt according to the 2005 deal with Israel that placed the terminal under Palestinian and Egyptian control.

The monitors left the terminal after the Fatah-aligned security forces fled their post following the Hamas seizure of the Gaza Strip on June 14."

http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=18243

[oberliner]

4. Hamas would rather let these Palestinians die

Than allow them to cross via Kerem Shalom, apparently.

More than twenty have died already according to this article.

[Scurrilous]

5. Well...

...you could also say that Israel, Egypt, and the EU would rather have Palestinians die rather than get together (God forbid) with Hamas to work out an agreement to reopen Rafah.

[pelsar]

6. blame israel?

Israel, Egypt, and the EU would rather have Palestinians die rather than get together ..wow...this is really taking the "israels at fault to the extreme.


Israel is the SOLE country in the entire world that has actually offered a concrete suggestion to bring the palestenains back home to gaza...and according to your post, assuming i understood it correctly your saying that israel is doing the exact opposite.

I believe this is the sentence in the article:
Israel has proposed rerouting the stranded passengers through the Kerem Shalom crossing it controls, near the meeting point of Gaza, Egypt and Israel. However, Hamas rejected the idea

so how does that translate in to israel wanting the palestenians die rather than return home?

i dont think it gets any more black and white than this
israel says yes the palestenains can return home to gaza via israel since egypt wont open their border to gaza...and hamas says no, until egypt opens the border, let the palestenians suffer and in some cases die. July 9, 2007

am i missing something here?

[Scurrilous]

7. Another take on this situation:

6000 Palestinians held hostage to impose Israel-controlled crossing

"Ismail Haniyeh called on Egypt to exert all efforts to reopen the Rafah Crossing and enable the estimated 6000 Palestinians holed up at the border to return to their homes in the Gaza Strip. Also three Palestinian resistance groups released statements urging the Egyptian government to address the humanitarian tragedy at the Rafah Crossing and to reopen it. In a joint statement the Fatah al-Yasser and Abu al-Rish Brigades of Fatah and the al-Nasser Brigades linked to the Popular Resistance Committees rejected the Egyptian-Israeli proposal to use the Kerem Shalom Crossing located on Israeli territory instead of the Rafah Crossing, as this would mean that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip would be deprived of any international border whatsoever and would be landlocked inside Israel. The Islamic Jihad also condemned the emergency government's agreement to the Israeli-Egyptian proposal to replace Rafah with Kerem Shalom as entrance and exit point for Palestinians. In a statement issued today, the Islamic Jihad said that "agreeing on this is considered a contribution in support of occupation plans" urging both the Palestinian emergency government and Egypt to retract from this agreement."

http://www.arabmonitor.info/news/dettaglio.php?idnews=19731&lang=en

[oberliner]

8. Interesting take

So these three "resistance groups" also would prefer to see Palestinians die rather than have them cross via Kerem Sharom.

Islamic Jihad also does not want to allow them to use that crossing.

So there are 6,000 Palestinians standed in Egypt who want to cross back into Gaza. Israel is opening the Kerem Shalom crossing which would give them the opportunity to do so and Hamas is responding by threatening to attack the crossing with mortars and gunfire, even at the price of killing thousands of Palestinians.

Islamic Jihad, and these three "resistance groups" support Hamas in that approach.

Interesting.

[Scurrilous]

10. Interesting that Israel is cooperating...

...in holding people's lives hostage in order to force the Palestinians in Gaza to relinquish their only outlet to the outside world.

Interesting indeed.

Deposed government slams decision to make Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom Crossing as main Gaza crossing point

<snip>

"The deposed government has criticised the decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing, located on the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border at the southern most point of the Gaza Strip, to allow the thousands of Palestinians stranded in Egypt back to Gaza.

In a statement, the former unity government rejected the use of Kerem Shalom Crossing, stressing that the Rafah crossing, between Gaza and Egypt, should be opened instead. The opening of the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom Crossing represents an outside intervention and a violation of Palestinian rights, the deposed government said."

<snip>

"The deposed Palestinian government said in its statement that forcing the stranded Palestinians to travel through the Israeli-controlled crossing was "a dangerous violation of Palestinian rights", both to their "land and sovereignty."

In the same regard, an official source in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) warned that accepting the transfer of the stranded Palestinians through Kerem Shalom represented an acceptance of a return to occupation of the Gaza Strip."

<snip>

"The statement added that the PFLP calls on the European Union monitors to return to the Rafah crossing and resume operations there in order to allow the Palestinians to leave and return as usual."

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23582


It's also interesting to note that in the past when Israel shut down Karni crossing during harvest and offered Kerem Shalom as a substitute, the Palestinians (specifically Abbas) refused.

Israel offered to let these people through Kerem Shalom knowing full well they'd probably be turned down.

[oberliner]

11. Do you disagree with any of the following?

The opening of the Rafah crossing requires by international agreement, the cooperation of Egypt, Israel, the EU, and the PA. At this point, those entities have not reached an agreement to open the crossing.

Israel is offering to open another crossing into Gaza.

The stranded Palestinians could return to their homes via this crossing.

Hamas is refusing to allow this to happen.

[Scurrilous]

12. Answers:

"The opening of the Rafah crossing requires by international agreement, the cooperation of Egypt, Israel, the EU, and the PA. At this point, those entities have not reached an agreement to open the crossing."

Agreed.


"Israel is offering to open another crossing into Gaza."

Kerem Shalom isn't a crossing into Gaza.

From JPost:

The Palestinians will cross from Egypt into Israel, undergo a security inspection at the border terminal by Israel Airports Authority inspectors and will then cross into Gaza, where they will be picked up by local bus drivers hired by the coordinator of government activities in the territories.


"The stranded Palestinians could return to their homes via this crossing."

Those that Israel allows through (no 'terrorists' need apply).


"Hamas is refusing to allow this to happen."

Yes they are.

[oberliner]

13. Fair enough

It just seems to me that the leadership of Hamas is a lot more concerned with protecting their "resistance fighters" than with the welfare of the majority of these stranded Gazans.

[pelsar]

9. gosh i was wrong...

i thought it was just hamas that prefered the palestenains to suffer and in some cases die rather than enter gaza through israel...as israel has volunteered to help get them home. I hadnt realized that there other palestenians groups that also had the same view......

now, how can we blame israel for this one....there has to be away....i betcha if i hang around long enough some one will come up with something, they always do.