After the ceasefire

Notwithstanding all the criticism and the enmity, it is amazing that Israel repaired the water and the electricity supply (damaged by Hamas missiles) into Gaza within the 3 day period of the ceasefire.   What other country would do this?  Note that also within these days some 3,000 truckloads of food, medical supplies and even building materials were shipped into Gaza through the two crossings, Kerem Shalom and Erez.  So much for a "Humanitarian crisis." Most people do not realize that apart from days when Hamas directly fired at the crossings and they had to be closed, trucks were taking food and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza throughout the nearly 4 week period of Operation Protective Edge, at the rate of ca. 800 trucks per day!

Why does Israel do this, something that no country on earth would do for an enemy population in time of war?  The fact is that Israel does not want to be held responsible for a truly humanitarian disaster, when pictures of starving people and children will be on the TV screens all around the world, as well as the pictures of children killed or injured in the actual fighting.  Note that Israel is the only country that can in fact provide this kind of material for the population of Gaza, since Egypt will not do so, and the supplies from other countries, that go through Israel, are miniscule.  But, we also do this because we are not cruel, because we do not want to be responsible for such human suffering.  And we do this for ourselves, not for anyone else.  Israel is believed to be deliberate "baby-killers" throughout most of the Muslim world, they believe this of us because they are anti-Semitic.  What is worse is that most people in the West, who are supposed to have free access to information, also believe this, partly due to their own anti-Semitic prejudices and partly due to media bias.   

It is known that the Sunni extremist forces, including Hamas and the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, show no compunction about deliberately killing children, yet this is what they accuse the IDF of doing, when it is certainly not true.  There is always this paradox, that the enemy projects their own evil onto us, the Jews.  Thus, Hitler accused the Jews of having plans to take over the world, while he certainly had these intentions and the Jews were entirely innocent.  Similarly with the Islamists, they are terribly cruel, in Nigeria Boko Haram kidnap girls because they are against them being educated and then turn them into slaves.   In northern Iraq the forces of the Islamic State decapitate people regularly when they are alive, this is a common barbaric practice of the Islamists, they did this to Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, yet they accuse Israel of being cruel!  

In Cairo, Israel agreed to extend the 3-day truce but Hamas did not agree. Hamas's main condition is that Israel open borders, that there be no blockade and the crossings be open.  Israel has surprisingly agreed to this demand, but in exchange Israel's condition is that Gaza be demilitarized, i.e. no going back to the status quo ante, where Hamas builds up a cache of missiles and weapons and rebuilds its tunnels and in a year or three starts another round of fighting, in which the innocent people on both sides suffer.  To avoid this PM Netanyahu has agreed to swap "open borders for demilitarization," and this formula is supported by Pres Obama and the USA.  It could be accomplished if the Palestine Authority under Pres. Abbas retakes responsibility for dealing with the reconstruction of Gaza, while Hamas is somewhat sidelined.

But, Hamas would never agree to this, since it would mean a loss of their control of Gaza, and yet in effect this was the reason for their starting the war in the first place, their inability to cope with Gaza with both Israeli and Egyptian blockades and no access to other sources of funds and weapons.  They "shot their wad" so to speak and are now in dire straits.  They started hostilities again, and Israel is continuing to blast them and the pressure is great for them to renew the ceasefire and the negotiations.  Since there is now supposedly a Unity Govt. in Gaza and the West Bank, a mechanism could be worked out, such that open borders are exchanged for assurances that Israel can accept of no weapons and no tunnels.  Unfortunately, Hamas could not accept Israel's conditions and has gone back to firing missiles into Israel.  They will pay for their aggression and eventually will be forced to cave.