Gaza’s new massacre hampers Cairo truce talks: Troubled period in the occupied territories
Posted By Ahmed Abdullah
May 2, 2008
A huge blast Monday in Gaza killed a Palestinian family – a mother and four children, two girls and two boys aged between one and six. Reuters news agency cited medical staff saying that another Palestinian civilian was also killed in the explosion. Several other people were wounded, some of them critically.
Residents said no fighters were killed by the blast.
Palestinian sources in Beit Hanoun blame Israeli tank fire for the massacre. Witnesses said the family was eating breakfast at the time of the attack.
"I left the house just moments before to look for one of my children. I heard the sound of the explosion, and when I returned to the house I found my wife and my children," said 70-year-old father Ahmed Abu Maateq, according to the BBC.
"They had been eating breakfast and my wife had been holding our youngest child in her hands," he added.
But the Israeli army disputes the witnesses’ account, claiming that explosives carried by Palestinian fighters were responsible for the blast.
Either way, the attack highlights the urgent need for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel because it would trigger retaliation from Palestinian resistance groups, sparking another round of violence that would lead to more bloodshed in the occupied territories.
Monday’s massacre also hinders ongoing diplomatic efforts in Egypt to reach a truce soon. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the Palestinian Wafa news agency that the incident "does not serve efforts being exerted to achieve calm, and it obstructs the peace process".
“Period of calm”
Despite the violence and Israel’s failure to take responsibility for the blast, twelve Palestinian resistance groups agreed to an Egyptian-mediated Gaza truce proposal on Wednesday.
The deal for an initial six-month "period of calm" has been accepted by Hamas, which now rules Gaza, while President Abba’s Fatah party, which controls the West Bank, has given the negotiations unconditional support.
Last week, Hamas said it was ready to accept a truce first in Gaza, to be followed six months later in the occupied West Bank, but stressed the Israeli blockade of Gaza must be lifted.
But Israel rejects the truce proposal, claiming that it would only give Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups a period of time to rearm.
“No deal whatsoever should be reached with Hamas," Israel’s Interior Minister, Meir Sheetrit told public radio on Thursday. "We must break Hamas, not hold negotiations with them, because their demands are unacceptable… The armed forces must attack those terrorists night and day to break their arms and their legs."
Hamas-Fatah divide
In addition to the fresh rounds of violence between Israel and Hamas, holding a ceasefire would also be affected by the Palestinians’ deep rifts that divide the Hamas-run Gaza from the Fatah-controlled West Bank, according to an article on the Christian Science Monitor.
According to an official involved in the mediation between the two rival parties, Hamas’ main condition of a ceasefire is that Israel opens all crossings into Gaza, especially the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
But Israel wouldn’t meet this demand without the involvement of the Palestinian Authority and the security forces loyal to President Abbas, said the official, who demanded anonymity.
Another way in which the Fatah-Hamas divide encumbers any ceasefire agreement with Israel is the question of whether a ceasefire would apply to the occupied West Bank.
Hamas has said in the past year that some of its rocket attacks on Israel were in retaliation for Israel’s incursions and arrests of Palestinians in the West Bank. This indicates that Hamas regards all Israeli actions, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, as a provocation and a legitimate reason for retaliation.
But Israel refuses to halt its military operations in the West Bank, using the same excuse it claims would prevent a truce in Gaza: the rearmament of Palestinian resistance groups.
“No national unity, no truce”
Ziad Abu Amar, a Palestinian political analyst and former cabinet minister in Gaza, believes that any ceasefire agreement wouldn’t be reached before a Palestinian national reconciliation deal.
"I don't think we can talk seriously about a truce or opening the crossings without a Palestinian national reconciliation deal, and I don't see that happening right way, " Dr. Abu Amar told the Christian Science Monitor.
"In the absence of a more comprehensive agreement of national reconciliation, the risk of having such a deal collapse remains higher. In order for it to succeed, it needs to be built on national reconciliation,
"But it's too complicated to include all these issues, ending the siege and agreeing to the truce, without involving the PA in Ramallah and Abbas. And if this is the case, we're back to Square One,” he added.
All the current developments point to another troubled period in the occupied territories. Unless each side agrees to accept comprises, the status quo will remain and the bloodshed would continue.