7-9-2018 Unable to Stop Flaming Kites, Israel Moves to Choke Off Gaza Commerce- David M. Halbfinger New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-kites-embargo.html

 

Unable to thwart the waves of incendiary devices lofted into Israel on kites and birthday balloons from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government opted for a punitive response on Monday, clamping down on cargo shipments in and out of Gaza in hopes that its rulers would halt the airborne arson themselves….Since April, Gaza militants have been turning kites and balloons into improvised firebombs, burning hundreds of acres of Israeli farmland and forcing firefighting crews from all over the country to race from fire to fire dowsing flames before they can spread…The new restrictions at Gaza's main cargo crossing ban the import of all goods except food, medicine and "humanitarian equipment," as well as all exports...The militant organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and has encouraged the arsonist kite fliers, called the move a "crime against humanity." Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a rival Gaza militant group, called it a "declaration of war."  The measures were intended to press Hamas to crack down on the arson. "We will weigh down heavier on Hamas's leadership, effective immediately," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said to applause as he announced the partial closing at a meeting of his Likud party on Monday….The restrictions represented a sharp reversal by leaders of the Israeli military, in particular Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who have called for alleviating economic pressure on Gaza, including by increasing economic aid, as a way to reduce the likelihood that tensions there could boil over into another war with IsrAnalysts warned that reducing commerce at Kerem Shalom would only choke off what was left of the territory's economic vitality at a time when it was already near collapse…If Egypt allowed more goods into Gaza at Rafah, "that's a win for Gazans, because Egyptian goods are much cheaper, and they're not taxed by the P.A.," Mr. Thrall said. "If Gaza's leaders could orchestrate that, they'd have a greater ability to tax those goods and get money to keep the government afloat."

 

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

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