Edo Konrad, +972 Magazine
The timing of the Israel-UAE accord couldn’t have been better for Israel’s floundering “unity government.” Beset by an explosion in new COVID-19 cases, the possibility of another lockdown, and a bottomed-out economy with growing unemployment, the deal has provided Netanyahu and his allies with the press they were longing for.
And yet, no glittering headline replete with photos of the first-ever El Al flight to Dubai will be able to cover up the story that keeps forcing its way into the news cycle: Israel’s 13-year siege on Gaza.
Last month, Israeli authorities shut down Gaza’s central commercial crossing to all goods — most importantly fuel — aside from humanitarian aid, after Palestinians launched hundreds of incendiary balloons into southern Israel in an attempt to pressure the Israeli government into easing the blockade. A week after the shutdown, at the peak of summer, Gaza’s sole power plant ceased working, leaving the strip’s two million residents with only four hours of electricity a day.
On Tuesday night, three Palestinian children died in a fire after a family member lit a candle in their home. The family reportedly tried to alert the authorities, but it took them close to an hour to arrive. When they did, they had no water source with which to put out the fire.
All this is taking place as Hamas has put Gaza under lockdown to fight a new breakout of COVID-19, which has infected close to 600 people so far. Mohammad Mousa spoke to people in Gaza this week who told him they are consumed by fear of the virus outbreak.
A number of human rights organizations petitioned Israel’s High Court to force the Israeli government to open the crossing, before Hamas announced Monday that it had struck a deal with Israel to allow Qatari money, goods, and medical supplies into Gaza and to de-escalate tensions.
But we’ve seen this phantasmic calm too many times. As long as the siege on Gaza continues, this will remain an artificial quiet that is meant to temporarily stave off a full-fledged military confrontation which, under these conditions, feels all but inevitable.
The UAE deal was supposed to reinforce Netanyahu’s mantra that peace with the Arab world is not contingent on ending the occupation, and that the international community no longer cares about the fate of the Palestinians. But the past month is a reminder that Israel cannot wish Palestinians away, and that there is no military solution to Gaza.
Real calm is contingent on ending Israel’s military rule, and on Palestinians fulfilling their right to live as free people.
Coronavirus is turning Gaza’s nights even darker
Netanyahu is dismantling the Israeli ‘kingdom’ — and that’s a good thing
The UAE-Israel accord is a victory for Temple Mount extremists
Human rights groups demand Israel allow fuel into COVID-struck Gaza
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