Round up: Israel unlikely changes controversial policy towards Gaza

by Keren Setton

JERUSALEM, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The images of Israeli forces clashing with Palestinians at the Gaza border last week brought the territory to the headlines once again.

Tens of Palestinians were killed when trying to break the fence on the border. It was the culmination of weeks of protests which the Islamic Hamas movement organized in an attempt to break the blockade on Gaza.

But are tens of thousands of Palestinians on Israel's border really an existing threat to one of the most sophisticated armies in the world? The Israeli government remains steadfast in its policies towards Gaza.

The violence coincided with the inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, a controversial move.

The Palestinian Authority asked the International Criminal Court on Wednesday to launch a full investigation into "Israeli human rights abuses in Palestinian territories." Both Israel and the United States opposed the move.

Since 2007 when Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority, the Gaza Strip has been under a strict closure imposed by both Israel and Egypt, with Israel taking most of the international outcry for the controversial policy.

Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's existence, has vowed to destroy it. It has conducted hundreds of violent attacks against the Israel.

Since Israel left Gaza in 2005, it has carried out three major offensives against the group, the last round in 2014.

The Gaza Strip is considered one of the poorest regions in the world. According to the World Bank, with an overall unemployment rate of 27 percent, the situation is getting worse.

"Access and quality of basic services such as electricity, water and sewerage is rapidly deteriorating and posing grave health risks," read a recent report by the World Bank.

Israel has rarely received international support for its policies towards the enclave.

Over the weekend, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) announced to form a commission of inquiry to investigate what it called "violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the context of large-scale civilian protests in the occupied Palestinian territory."

For Israel, yet another blow. However, it is highly unlikely that its policy towards the Gaza Strip would change.

Dubbed the "Great March of Return," the mass rallies organized by Hamas has witnessed the deaths of over 100 Palestinians and injuries of tens of thousands of others.

"The tools that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) use include warnings, demonstration dispersal methods and as a last resort, live fire in a precise and measured manner. The IDF is committed to preventing infiltration into Israeli territory and threats against our forces and citizens," read a statement by the IDF.

"Israel should continue being tough against Hamas and to a certain extent towards the Gaza population, so they pressure Hamas to stop any kind of campaign including the march and such quasi-violence," said Professor Hillel Frisch of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

Frisch believed Israel's harsh military response in the past has had achievements and therefore must continue. "It would be silly to ease restrictions."

For years, residents of southern Israel were subject to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip targeting their towns. After a massive Israeli offensive in the summer of 2014, this fire largely stopped.

But Hamas has undertaken a new project in recent years, the building of cross-border tunnels intended to facilitate attacks within Israel.

The discovery of such tunnels were the main trigger for the 2014 war and in recent weeks the army has reportedly discovered and destroyed several tunnels.

The mass destruction witnessed in Gaza after the last war, coupled with international outcry, forced Israel to declare to ease restrictions.

There was also an increasing understanding in the country that the welfare of the Gaza Strip has a direct influence on the stability of the area.

Gisha, an Israeli NGO that deals with freedom of movement for Palestinians, says Israel's control over Gaza has only intensified in the last year, contrary to what the government claimed.

In a recent paper published by Gisha, it enlists "10 new or intensified obstacles facing Gaza residents" who want to leave the enclave.

"They cannot breathe, they cannot develop their economy, they cannot maintain family or trade relations," said Shai Grunberg, a spokeswoman for Gisha. "Israel is institutionalizing the disconnection between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

The Israeli military did not comment on the matter.

The Israeli government will not change its policy towards the Gaza Strip, as the internal divide between the Palestinians has become an Israeli interest.

"Israel wants to divide and rule the Palestinians, because every country wants to divide and rule its enemies," Frisch told Xinhua. Enditem