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What Can Israel Do to Postpone the Next Round of Violence in Gaza?

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Kobi Michael and Udi Dekel - Over three months have passed since the end of the Gaza war and little substantive reconstruction work has yet to begin in Gaza. Egypt has toughened its policy on the Rafah crossing, which is closed most of the time, and has expanded its security zone along the border between Sinai and Gaza. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to transfer salaries and budgets that Hamas needs to function in Gaza has aggravated Hamas' difficulties and worsened conditions for Gazans. In order to postpone the next round of violence for as long as possible, Israel seeks to facilitate reconstruction in Gaza and enable a dramatic improvement in living conditions there. For the moment, it serves Israel's interests to continue and expand existing supervised procedures, with the help of the UN, to transfer building materials and other goods required for basic existence and housing construction. Nonetheless, there exists tension between the need to rein in Hamas and the fact that Israeli assistance will lead to strengthening its rule in Gaza and to the rehabilitation of its legitimacy. This result is also not consistent with Egypt's interests. Dr. Kobi Michael, a senior research fellow at INSS, was deputy director general and head of the Palestinian desk at the Israel Ministry for Strategic Affairs. Brig. Gen. (ret.) Udi Dekel, managing director of INSS, was head of the Strategic Planning Division in the Planning Directorate of the IDF General Staff.
2014-12-12 00:00:00
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