Opinionline: Blame for Gaza war not clear
The Jerusalem Post,editorial: "Hamas is betting that as the conflict in the south drags on, U.S. President Obama will be less outspoken than George W. Bush was in his support of Israel. ... Under the new geopolitical circumstances, Hamas has not only allowed the various terrorist organizations in Gaza to shoot rockets and mortar shells at civilians in (southern Israel) and attack IDF patrols. The anti-Semitic terrorist organization ... has increasingly launched attacks of its own. The resulting escalations have resulted in nearly 1,000 rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel since the beginning of the year. Israel was left little choice but to use force to restore deterrence."
Larbi Sadiki,Al Jazeera: "Firing rockets is a useless weapon in the absence of Palestinian unity, a common vision for war or peace, resistance or negotiation and the kind of capacity-building required for continuous self-protection and institution-building. There is therefore something absurd about firing rockets at Israel. ... Even if now equipped with new rockets that can hit Tel Aviv, Hamas' striking power and capacity to reach military targets or avenge deaths ... are looking doubtful."
The Daily Star (Beirut), editorial: "Some will argue that the rockets led to this flare-up of violence, but in fact it is the blockade of Gaza by the Israelis that led to the rockets. Gazans and their leaders lack control over everything from their supplies of food, water and electricity to their sovereignty, since their land and sea borders are at the mercy of others. Gaza is treated like a prison. ... Instead of 'dealing with Gaza' in terms of its rockets, there should be efforts to deal with the appalling, Israeli-supervised siege of Gaza."
Haaretz (Tel Aviv, Israel), editorial: "These two Arab states (Egypt and Jordan) — the only ones that have signed peace agreements with Israel, and which are scrupulous about maintaining them — absorb most of the political shrapnel scattered by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Egypt, there are many forces and movements ... demanding that ties with Israel be severed. Jordan fears that a continuation of the operation in Gaza will spark massive protest demonstrations that would be exploited to undermine King Abdullah's control of the country. ... Israel will derive little security benefit if the military operation succeeds in liquidating another few senior Hamas figures and destroying another few command posts and missile stockpiles, but destroys our relationships with Egypt and Jordan."
The Jordan Times (Amman, Jordan), editorial: "The deliberate, disproportionate use of firepower by Israel in response to Palestinian rockets is meant to inflame spirits and expand the scope of conflict with a clear political purpose in mind. This time, the Israeli escalation comes some time before the Israeli elections, projected for January, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to look forceful in combating the Palestinians, with an eye on being re-elected. ... He is bad news for peace."
Abdul Rahman al-Rashed,Arab News: "I don't think that millions of Arabs today accept the statements of sympathy, field-visit parades and diplomatic activity that are being showcased to address the aggression on Gaza. Yet if Egypt decided to defend Gaza militarily, perhaps the political equitation would have been entirely different (even if it didn't win). What's more, this wouldn't have to be a major war."
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