There has been a lot
of talk lately about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. What has gone curiously
unmentioned by all the great humanitarians from the UN and “human rights”
groups, however, is the degree to which this crisis was deliberately fomented
by Hamas: Aside from starting the war to begin with, Hamas has done its level
best to deprive Gazans of everything from food to medical care to housing,
despite Israel’s best efforts to provide them.
Take, for instance,
the widely reported shortages of medicines and various other essentials. Many
of these products are imported, and since Egypt has largely closed its border,
Gaza has only one conduit for these vital imports: the Kerem Shalom crossing
into Israel. Thus if Gaza’s Hamas government had any concern whatsoever for its
citizens, ensuring that this crossing was kept open and could function at
maximum efficiency would be a top priority.
Instead, Hamas and
other terrorist groups subjected Kerem Shalom to relentless rocket and mortar
fire throughout the 29-day conflict, thereby ensuring that the job of getting
cargo through was constantly interrupted as crossing workers raced for cover.
Hamas also launched at least three tunnel attacks near Kerem Shalom, each of
which shut the crossing down for hours.
Despite this, Israeli
staffers risked their lives to keep the crossing open and managed to send
through 1,491 truckloads of food, 220 truckloads of other humanitarian
supplies, and 106 truckloads of medical supplies. But the numbers would
certainly have been higher had the nonstop attacks not kept disrupting
operations. On August 1, for instance, a shipment comprising 91 truckloads of
aid had to be aborted on when Hamas violated a humanitarian cease-fire by
launching a massive attack near Kerem Shalom.
Then there’s the
shortage of medical care, as Gaza’s hospitals were reportedly overwhelmed by
the influx of Palestinian casualties. To relieve this pressure, Israel allowed
some Palestinians into Israel for treatment and also set up a field hospital on
the Gaza border. But throughout the war, the field hospital stood almost
empty–which Israel says is because Hamas deliberately kept Palestinians from
using it.
Many pundits dismiss
this claim, insisting there were simply no Palestinians who wanted to go there.
That, however, is highly implausible. Gazans routinely seek treatment in Israel
because it offers better medical care than Gaza does; as one Gazan said in
2012, “It is obvious that people come to Israel for medical treatment,
regardless of the political conflict.”
Even Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
sends his family to Israel for treatment; over the past two years, Israel has
treated both his granddaughter and his sister’s husband. So while some
Palestinians undoubtedly objected to accepting help from the enemy, it’s hard
to believe there weren’t also Palestinians who simply wanted the best possible
care for their loved ones, and would gladly have accepted it from Israel had
they not feared retaliation from a group with no qualms about shooting dissenters.
It’s also worth
noting that “humanitarian” organizations in Gaza actively contributed to this
particular problem. UNRWA and the Red Cross did refer a few patients to the Israeli field hospital. But you have
to wonder why they opted to refer most patients to Gaza’s Shifa Hospital and
then make videos about how difficult conditions there were instead of easing
the burden on Shifa by referring more patients to the Israeli hospital.
Then, of course,
there’s the dire electricity shortage–also courtesy in part of Hamas, which destroyed
two power lines carrying electricity from Israel to Gaza and subsequently
prevented their repair by shelling the area nonstop.
Finally, there’s the
massive destruction of houses in Gaza, which has left thousands of families
homeless. That, too, was largely courtesy of Hamas: It booby-trapped houses and
other civilian buildings, like a UNRWA clinic, on a massive scale and also used such buildings to store
rockets and explosives.
Sometimes, it blew up
these buildings itself in an effort to kill Israeli soldiers. Other times, the
buildings blew up when relatively light Israeli ammunition like mortar
shells–which aren’t powerful enough to destroy a building on their own–caused
the booby traps or stored rockets to detonate. As Prof. Gregory Rose aptly noted,
Hamas effectively turned all of Gaza into one big suicide bomb. In one
neighborhood, for instance, 19 out of 28 houses were either booby-trapped,
storing rockets, or concealing a tunnel entrance, thereby ensuring their
destruction.
Now, the organization
is gleefully watching the world blame Israel for the humanitarian crisis Hamas
itself created. And that gives it every incentive to repeat these tactics in
the future.
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Click on picture HYPOCRISY OVER GAZA
Pat is a writer, comedian and atheist internet personality. He performed alternative comedy shows during the 1980s and 1990s in the United Kingdom, and won a Time Out Comedy Award in 1991. He was also a regular panelist on BBC Radio
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