Gaza -- the Aftermath
Israel has pulled out of Gaza and a shaky ceasefire is holding, for now, and maybe a day or so more. Gaza has been devastated -- and it wasn't in great shape to begin with. Its infrastructure is destroyed and the siege continues to hold. The question is -- what comes next?
There are a number of conversations going on in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, among other places, to put together a reconstruction plan. In part they want to get this underway so that Hamas can't claim responsibility for the rebuilding of Gaza. But there are signs already that Hamas not only survived, but has grown stronger as a result of the Israeli incursion -- not something Israel had planned, I'm sure.
Indeed, Israel went into this conflict with the idea of undermining/destroying Hamas. By most estimates it killed more than 1000 people, many of them civilians/noncombatants, destroyed schools, medical clinics, hospitals, homes, mosques, and more. It never did silence the rockets -- just slowed them down.
In the end, politically, Hamas though injured seems to be coming out stronger than before the incursion. At the same time the "moderate" group governing in the West Bank, the one we'll talk to, Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah, has come out looking weaker. Indeed, if elections were held Fatah likely would lose not only the legislature as it did the last time, but also the Presidency. There seems to be an effort to forge a unity government between Hamas and Fatah, but if this went into place would Israel and the US recognize it and deal with it?
What complicates all of this further is that Israeli elections are on the horizon and the likely person to become Prime Minister is Likud hard liner Benjamin Netanyahu. If he were to win, the situation becomes even cloudier, because not only did he support the invasion of Gaza, he has shown no signs of support for a two-state solution.
I am pleased that while the President hasn't tipped his hand yet, he has shown from day one that he will engage this issue directly. This is evidenced by the calls he placed to all the parties in the Middle East on his first full day in the White House. Word comes that he will appoint George Mitchell to be his Special Envoy to the Middle East. With Hillary Clinton now confirmed as Secretary of State she can begin work on this process as well.
Now we wait to see what comes next, and we are waiting prayerfully!
There are a number of conversations going on in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, among other places, to put together a reconstruction plan. In part they want to get this underway so that Hamas can't claim responsibility for the rebuilding of Gaza. But there are signs already that Hamas not only survived, but has grown stronger as a result of the Israeli incursion -- not something Israel had planned, I'm sure.
Indeed, Israel went into this conflict with the idea of undermining/destroying Hamas. By most estimates it killed more than 1000 people, many of them civilians/noncombatants, destroyed schools, medical clinics, hospitals, homes, mosques, and more. It never did silence the rockets -- just slowed them down.
In the end, politically, Hamas though injured seems to be coming out stronger than before the incursion. At the same time the "moderate" group governing in the West Bank, the one we'll talk to, Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah, has come out looking weaker. Indeed, if elections were held Fatah likely would lose not only the legislature as it did the last time, but also the Presidency. There seems to be an effort to forge a unity government between Hamas and Fatah, but if this went into place would Israel and the US recognize it and deal with it?
What complicates all of this further is that Israeli elections are on the horizon and the likely person to become Prime Minister is Likud hard liner Benjamin Netanyahu. If he were to win, the situation becomes even cloudier, because not only did he support the invasion of Gaza, he has shown no signs of support for a two-state solution.
I am pleased that while the President hasn't tipped his hand yet, he has shown from day one that he will engage this issue directly. This is evidenced by the calls he placed to all the parties in the Middle East on his first full day in the White House. Word comes that he will appoint George Mitchell to be his Special Envoy to the Middle East. With Hillary Clinton now confirmed as Secretary of State she can begin work on this process as well.
Now we wait to see what comes next, and we are waiting prayerfully!
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