Inconvenient Truths About Gaza, Hamas and Israel's Border

Israel captured Gaza from the Egyptians during the 1967 Six-Day War. For decades, there were no border fences. Many Israelis shopped in Gaza and many Arabs workedin Israel proper. In 2005, then Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, unilaterally removed all military posts, as well as the thousands of Jews who had settled in the Gaza Strip, and gave Palestinians full control of theterritory.

In 2006, Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas, a terrorist organization whose Charter calls for the total destruction of the Jewish State. Soon, suicide bombers and thousandsof missiles targeted Israel leading to military confrontations. In recent years, Hamas built a network of underground terror tunnels to circumvent the borderfences. Israel, like any other nation in the world, cannot be expected to tolerate an attempted invasion of its land.

• Why are the conditions in Gaza so bad?

Hamas diverted building materials andother aid intended for civilians, and instead chose to build massive underground tunnels to launch attacks against Israel. Rather than turning Gaza into an internationaltourist destination on the Mediterranean and dramatically improving the economy and the life of the people, Hamas’ only interest is its radical ideology, which chooses to create severe shortages of goods and services vital to the pursuit of a normalfuture.

Rather than admit their culpability in allowing this unbearable situation to fester, the international community, including the UnitedNations, and the European Union, continue to cynically blame Israel and Israel alone. But the simple fact is that none of those nations, faced with a similarcrisis would act any differently than the Israelis.

• Don’t Palestinians have the right to peaceful protest without fearing they would be killed?

Of course, everyone has the right to protest both individually and collectively, but what if the Million Man or Women’s March decided to violently storm the White House or Congress? What would our police and soldiers do? How much more critical is the situation at the Gaza border, which has a long history ofterrorists blowing up restaurants, buses, and schools. Hamas admits now that 50 out of the 60deaths on Monday, May 14, 2018, widely condemned by leaders and the media as an Israeli "massacre" or "slaughter", were in fact, members of Hamas and Islamic Jihadterrorist groups. Meanwhile, the Israeli government continues to send leaflets warning Palestinian protesters to stay a safe distance from the border.

• Don’t Palestinians just want to live in peace?

Without question, many Palestinians want peace. But under Hamas rule, their children are taught otherwisein United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools. Textbooks never mention the word Israel, maps show only Arab names for cities and sites in Israel proper. Thenew Hamas Charter says, “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. The initiatives, proposals and International Conferences are but a waste of time, anexercise in futility.”

Even UNRWA, the single largest employer in Gaza, has been co-opted by a Hamas-driven agenda. In fact, UNRWA closed schools on May 14-15, knowingfull well many of the children would be put in harm’s way.

• Are women and children targeted at the border?

There has been video evidence showing that womenand youngsters are being brought into the fray to act as human shields and cannon fodder. Hamas’ hope is that the most vulnerable amongst them will be shot by theIsraelis, which would lead to headlines denouncing Israel as carrying out massacres against innocents. It is the worst form of child abuse to deliberately place childrenin danger, just to score a few paragraphs in the international media and social media.

• Would these events have occurred if President Trump hadn’t moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem?

Hamas needs little excuse to engage in their most profitable enterprise — terror — especially when they know anything involving President Trump would garner internationalheadlines. Proof of this is that these marches actually began on March30th, six weeks prior to the US Embassy move.
Hamas selected May 14th, Israel’s 70th anniversary and the inauguration of the new US Embassy to gain maximum coverage. And it worked – rioters rushed the border, Israeli soldiers defended theirnation, and the media, continues to give a moral pass to Hamas while denouncing Israel, again and again.