(en) Anarkismo.net - Israel burned the stew

The present Gaza war was started before the actual shooting, by Egypt's blockade of the 
Gaza Strip, intended to break the rule of Hamas due to it being a part of the Islamic 
Brotherhood movement. ---- Israel has given a powerful boost to the developing crisis by 
obstructing the agreement of Hamas for a Palestinian unity government in return for an 
agreement according to which the Palestinian leadership of the West Bank will provide the 
funds required for wages to Hamas personnel in Gaza and prevent the complete 
disintegration of Hamas as a significant factor in the Gaza Strip. Israel's motive for 
this was the certainty that such an agreement would increase the pressure to retreat back 
into the territory it occupied in 1967. ---- As a substitute for this agreement and to 
prevent the disintegration of Hamas, Israel intensified its attacks on the Gaza Strip in 
the hope that it would initiate a stormy crisis of confrontation that would be resolved at 
its end by the consolidation of an independent but weakened Hamas rule in Gaza. Hamas 
responded to the failure of the agreement by diminishing its efforts to prevent the more 
radical organizations from firing rockets into Israel.

Israel, for its part, used the kidnapping and killing of three young settlers to increase 
pressure on Hamas in the West Bank and increased attacks and assassinations in the Gaza 
Strip. Hamas responded by firing rockets and missiles at Israel, which reciprocated with 
pervasiveair attack.

When the stage of air attacks failed to achieve their purpose because of the stubborn 
refusal by Egypt to fulfill its part - the easing of the blockade on Gaza - and by the 
refusal of Hamas to stop the fighting without an agreement on significant relief of the 
blockade, Israel began a ground assault phase.

Though Israel is beginning to come under international pressure, including that of US, to 
stop fighting it still refuses to commit itself for even minimal relief in the closure 
that will provide Hamas with the ability to survive; Egypt too continues to contribute its 
share by refusing to commit itself before the ceasefire for a significant easing of the 
closure.

In response to international pressure on Israel to end the war against Hamas, Israel now 
insists it must continue to demolish the attack tunnels dug beneath the Israeli-Gaza 
border (that will be used by Hamas to attack Israel if it violates the agreement that will 
be reached about easing the closure).

Now, the success or failure of Israel's main purpose that an agreement will be formulated 
for the relief of the closure on Gaza that will allow the independence of Hamas in Gaza is 
to be decided. It is still not clear if Hamas' power will be weakened or actually increase 
following the agreement on significant relief in the closure.

The purpose of continuing the war is to bargain for the price required for the 
rehabilitation of Hamas rule in Gaza and who will pay it: what will be the share of Israel 
and Egypt in the relief of the closure and who will supply the necessary funds for the 
continued functioning of the Hamastan ghetto in the Gaza Strip.

In light of the insistence of Hamas to reject a ceasefire before agreement is reached on a 
significant removal of the closure, given its military ability to persist, and given the 
refusal of Egypt to commit right now its share to the diminishing the closure, Israel is 
pushed on the one hand to increase the ground offensive and on the other hand begins to 
raise the possibility of intervention by an international inspection power in the occupied 
territories (beginning in Gaza) which up until now it had objected to fiercely.

The balance of bloodshed, which includes ten Israeli soldiers killed in recent days and 
increased pressure from the United States to enable the survival of Hamas which is very 
important to its regional strategy, brings much closer the moment of truth when Israel 
will recognize its defeat in this round.