MEMRI: In Wake of Tahdiah Agreement/SDEROT: Who Is Fooling Whom?

Two articles from 2 separate organizations each commenting on the same idea. The Truce between Hamas and Israel.

Escalation in the Hamas-Fatah Conflict, and in Fatah's Position vis-a-vis Israel

Introduction Under the tahdiah agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which went into effect on June 19, 2008, the Palestinians agreed to stop the rocket attacks on Israel in exchange for a cessation of Israel's military activity in Gaza. It was also agreed that there would be negotiations for opening the Rafah crossing, with the participation of Palestinian Authority, Hamas and E.U. representatives.(1)

The agreement was the result of prolonged negotiations, during which both sides withdrew some of their original demands. Hamas waived its demands to include the West Bank in the agreement and to open the Rafah crossing immediately. Israel, on its part, withdrew its demand to stop arms smuggling as a condition for signing the agreement, and did not insist on a clause linking the tahdiah to the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Hamas was very interested in the tahdiah, mainly out of concern that the continued siege on Gaza would weaken its status among the Palestinians, and out of fear that Israel would target its leaders. Nevertheless, the movement has presented the agreement as an Israeli capitulation and as a Hamas victory, emphasizing the lifting of the siege on Gaza and Israel's apparent recognition of Hamas.

Though some of the Palestinian factions expressed reservations about the agreement, they all agreed to the tahdiah. Despite this, some of them have violated the agreement by firing rockets at Israel, on the pretext that Israel's military actions in the West Bank constituted a breach of the tahdiah. Hamas' response to the violations was ambiguous; while one Hamas spokesmen expressed sympathy for the groups that had fired, and stressed that Hamas would not impose the tahdiah by force, other Hamas spokesmen emphasized the need for coordinated action by all the Palestinian factions, stating that those who launch rockets must be arrested. As a matter of fact, Hamas has indeed arrested some activists from Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades who fired or were planning to fire rockets. Israel's response to the rocket fire has been to intermittently close the border crossings, which in turn has led Hamas to suspend negotiations on the release of Gilad Shalit.

The tahdiah has brought about an escalation in the conflict between Hamas and the PA. The PA and Fatah criticized the tahdiah agreement, accusing Hamas of selling out the Palestinian cause – and especially the West Bank – in order to protect its leaders from assassination and in return for "fuel and food that are sold on the black market for a personal profit." PA and Fatah spokesmen also claimed that Hamas has relinquished its hard-line position, and is now pursuing the very same policy that the PA had pursued in the past – a policy that harshly condemned by Hamas at the time. The tension between the PA and Hamas has also resulted in armed clashes between the two sides in Gaza and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the tahdiah is being only partially honored, with each side – Hamas and Israel – trying to pressure the other. Hamas, which sees the agreement as a victory, is calling to escalate the resistance in the West Bank. It has explicitly condoned the recent acts of terrorism in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and has taken responsibility for some of them in a bid to refute claims that it has sacrificed the West Bank and has abandoned the path of resistance. Hamas's military arm, the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, even threatened recently to abduct more Israeli soldiers.

Senior Fatah leaders have also escalated their statements – perhaps in attempt to prove that they are no less committed than Hamas to the national cause, and perhaps because Israel's agreement with Hamas has convinced them that force can lead to achievements. In their statements, they stressed that Fatah had not relinquished the strategy of armed resistance, congratulated Samir Al-Quntar on his release from the Israeli prison, and glorified Dalal Al-Mughrabi, who led the 1978 coast road bus hijacking. This, in addition to the violation of the tahdiah by Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades, whose members recently fired rockets at Israel.


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Who is Fooling Whom?

The other day in Sderot, I made an astonishing observation. I was walking from the office after a long day at work to catch some sleep when I noticed I was not walking alone. Usually the city is deadly quiet once the sun sets, as parents refuse to let children play outside in the dark. Families prefer to remain at home together after a long day of siren alerts and rocket explosions.

High school kids don't ride around as much with the music blasting and teenagers don't walk around listening to their Ipods in case the 'tzeva adom', red color alert sounds. There's not much to do at night except maybe watch a movie and hope that Hamas rocket launchers decide to go to sleep, so that those us living in Sderot can relax just a little bit.

In any case tonight I actually noticed people outside on the street. For the first time since I've come to work in Sderot in over a year, I am seeing moms walking around with their strollers and neighbors playing cards outside on the porch.

A playground is full of kids shouting and playing -- that is one sight that makes me do a double take. Playgrounds are pretty much empty here in Sderot.

Then I realized that this is the new playground that everyone is talking about -- the first playground in the world that is properly protected from rocket fire. How? There are heavy concrete tubes that kids can run to when the siren sounds for protection. Moms are finally feeling that it is safe enough to let their kids play at a playground. The kids look like they are having fun, what an ingenious idea.

I spoke to Orna Cohen, a local Sderot mom, who's pretty happy with the playground. "I can finally let my grandkids outside to play in this new playground, when they come to visit me in Sderot," says Orna. "Usually I have to keep them pent up inside the house. It's nice to have a playground like this where the kids can play somewhat at peace, but it's obviously not a solution to living with the rocket fire."

"I just want the rockets to stop for good so that we don't have to live for these little moments of quiet that are followed by terrible barrages of Kassams," says Orna.

In any case, the children of Sderot definitely deserve some kind of break. About 70-94% of Sderot children now show signs of PTSD - post traumatic stress disorder.

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From Monkey in the Middle:

It is a sorry state of the world that a playground for children has to be made bomb and rocket-proof. And it is a sorry state of the world that the UN nor any other nation of the world has not condemned Hamas for its daily barrage of rockets. The world sees and silently applauds the actions of Hamas. It is the old, ugly head of anti-Semitism rearing up again in the world.

Hamas is using this "Truce" to consolidate its power in Gaza and the West Bank and rearm themselves. Already they have boasted that they've booby trapped many areas of Gaza, in preparation of an Israeli invasion.

Israel knows that this is happening and is preparing. Israel was condemned for putting Gaza under siege. It was the strangest siege in the history of warfare with the besiegers sending 60 tons of supplies and food into the besieged area. Next time there will be no supplies sent, no food sent, no electricity sent, and maybe even cutting off the water. Then Israel will just have to sit back and wait. The world will scream and cry: "The poor civilians!" But next time it will come to no good. For they are at the end of their patience and will endure no more!

Like always, I ask you to donate to the Sderot Media Center. They provide not only information on Sderot and the attacks, but counseling and other services to the areas residents.