(Foreign Policy) Anchal Vohra - Beginning in 2018, Qatar began delivering $30 million a month in cash to Gaza, but last week Israel refused to allow delivery of Qatar's monthly aid. The thinking was that Qatari cash would keep Hamas quiet - that it would essentially buy them off from firing rockets at Israel's cities. "Did the Qatari procedure work for us? We don't think so," said Col. Eran Lerman, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser. The Israelis are now determined to rework their strategy. Instead of cash for calm, it's now planning to use reconstruction funds as leverage against Hamas rearmament. There is support for such ideas among American policymakers, especially since the international community seems fatigued with investing in rebuilding Gaza's infrastructure if it is destined to be destroyed in airstrikes a few years later. American diplomat Dennis Ross said, "An equation needs to be created which essentially says: Reconstruction for no rearmament."
2021-06-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive