A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

May 31, 2007

What Can Be Done With Gaza?

The Qassams have continued to fall, although the numbers are decreasing.

Some observers believe it is an attempt by Hamas to climb down and stop the firing. Most observers feel that itÕs almost impossible to get every group in Gaza to agree to anything at the moment.


That was underlined by an article in todayÕs New York Times called "Jihadist Groups Fill Palestinian Power Vacuum". The article describes the ever-increasing radicalization and Islamicization of the Palestinian communities, particularly in Gaza and Lebanon. It describes the recent attack on an Internet Cafˇ where all the users were attacked and all the computers destroyed. The article quotes a senior member of Hamas, Mr. Taha as saying; "There is a central problem and that is Al Qaeda, and they are spreading," said Mr. Taha, after an emergency meeting of religious and political leaders in the camp last week to calm tensions. "The Islamic awakening has been going on for 25 years now. But now this, is going to become a huge problem for us." Some Israelis have been saying that the day will come when we will miss Hamas, that may be sooner then we think.


Two very different ideas on what to do with Gaza were presented today on London and Kirshbaum. The first was by Minister Avigdor Lieberman. He proposes that we truly separate from Gaza. We tell them that within a year they have to be independent of Israel. No more electricity, no more transport through IsraelÕs ports. He called for a complete separation between Gaza and the West Bank. Finally, Lieberman suggested that in order to ensure that the Gaza Strip does not become one big terror center, we should asked the European community of the quartet to send troops to keep the peace in Gaza. LiebermanÕs plans would be great- the only problem is that there is another side. The Palestinians will never agree to a true separation between their two parts, and the Europeans or the Americans are not about to send their sons to Gaza to maintain order.


More practical suggestions came from the former Chief of Intelligence Zevik Farakash. He had two very practical suggestions. First he suggested that the open areas in the general vicinity of where the rockets are launched be declared a 24/7 killing field. Anyone entering will be killed. Even more interesting, I thought, was his statement that if they cannot sleep in Sderot they should not be allowed to sleep in Gaza. He suggests that any day that a Qassam is fired at Israel, that night Israeli jets crisscross the Strip all night creating sonic booms that keep up the whole population. I am sure someone will attack us for collective punishment- but it seems like a good suggestion to me.