Gaza Rebuild 'To Cost Billions'

[tekisui]

Source: BBC

Rebuilding the Gaza Strip after Israel's three-week offensive will cost billions of dollars, the UN has warned.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been left homeless and 400,000 people still have no running water, it says.

Reports say UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is travelling to Gaza on Tuesday to inspect the damage.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants is holding, allowing many Palestinians to return home to assess the damage.

Israel called a ceasefire on Saturday, saying it had met its war aims. Hamas later declared its own truce, with one of its leaders claiming a "great victory" over Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he wants troops to leave Gaza "as quickly as possible" and some have already left.

Anonymous Israeli officials, quoted by Associated Press news agency, said the withdrawal would be completed before US President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.

But analysts say big questions remain, such as who will police Gaza's southern border with Egypt and how much power Hamas still has.

Hamas has said it will hold fire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip.

more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7839075.stm

[Idealism]

1. This is such a military intelligence failure, it rivals Iraq.

The IDF's stated goals of 'eliminating all rocket fire' are so hopelessly unattainable, whoever wrote that mission statement should be fired and tried for defamation of military character. There are numerous militant groups inside Gaza, with more ready to take their place and make their oppressors feel some sort of pain like they have been feeling, that would love to launch rockets into Israel. You just can't stop them all, and given their specific mission goals, they have left themselves not much breathing room with the Israeli public.

[tekisui]

2. The invasion was popularly supported for that reason.

Just like Iraq, they had to go with the reason that would sell. That one sold, and the people rallied. Israel is probably hoping they can hold some kind of cease-fire and keep the rockets down until the Feb. elections.

[Idealism]

3. I think Livni is praying the rockets don't fly

Although, it would not be in Hamas' best interest to see a Likud win, so I would hope they aren't so dumb as to launch rockets into Israel. It is possible that Islamic Jihad/Al-Aqsa Martyrs/Badr Forces would want to fire rockets into Israel in defiance of Hamas and Israel, however.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. So should be the people of Gaza

At this point the IDF is striking any location if rockets or mortars are fired from there. Tit for tat, but the IDF weapons are hitting where aimed (subject to CEP etc...). Not sure how long that will continue once the UN and NGOs roll in, but for now that seems to be IDF policy.

[Blue Meany]

9. If the stated purpose is the real purpose of the invasion,

then you are right. But if, like the "weapon's of mass destruction," it was just a cover story to give it popular support, it may have been quite successful. If the goal is really to continue process of incrementally pushing Palestinians out of the territories by making life impossible, or at least unbearable, for ever increasing numbers, then it might well be regarded as a great success. An if the rockets are launched again, they have the pretext to invade again and kill and destroy even more.

As I have said a few times in these forums, Palestinians interests are not served by this cycle of violence and they would do well do adopt non-violent protest as a mode of political expression. This would give Israel no pretext for military action and would appeal to the social conscience of Israelis and others in the world, providing a much better possibility of having their grievances addressed. On the other hand, the cycle of violence does serve the interests of those in Israel who seek to occupy all of "greater Israel" and drive the Arabs out.

[Idealism]

10. It sounds good on paper but doesn't work with Israel

The Palestinians living in the West Bank are by and large non-violent (except for the Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades being headquartered there), but it has done them no real good. They aren't being killed by the thousands as of this moment, but they have been annexed in gradually, had their houses bulldozed to make way for Jewish-only settlements, can't travel around their territory due to Jewish-only superhighways, and had the prime real estate of the West Bank stolen from them, and must live behind an Apartheid wall over double the size and height of the Berlin Wall. Unemployment is over 50% in the West Bank, too, and they must pass check points just to take a crap.

Just because the West Bank isn't currently being bombed, doesn't mean the people living their aren't being oppressed.

[Blue Meany]

11. I don't dispute what you are saying; I wouldn't suggest

that most Palestinians are violent. But enough of them are violent that they provide a pretext for Israeli "retribution."

It is precisely the oppression that you describe that I think could be effectively changed with non-violent protests, just as segregation in the American South was altered by such means. Even if Israelis weren't moved to change policies in this situation, I think their supporters in America would be and that could force some kind of change.

[Idealism]

12. The problem isn't the Palestinians

There are very few of them (if you count the whole) who are militants. Most Gazan's support a two-state solution (although those polled in refugee camps were lukewarm to the idea). That isn't the problem; the problem is Israel and the mentality of their government. The country is ran by the military-industrial complex. To ensure that billions pour in from Washington and justify their Defense sector spending, they need an enemy. If it wasn't the Palestinians it would be a war in Lebanon (again). Israel has had multiple opportunities for peace, especially over the last two decades. No fewer than 15 long term cease-fires were offered from Hamas to the Israeli government since 1993, but they refuse to make any concessions, so this bloodbath continues. I guess the Golan Heights and the prime real estate they stole from Palestinians in the West Bank are worth more than peace in the region. All 22 members of the Arab league offered Israel normalized relations, lasting peace, and complete recognition if Israel would go back to the 1967 borders, but they refuse time and time again. Couple that with previous Prime Ministers and their policy of assassinations against the leaders of Palestinian groups (Sharron was the worst in this regard, although Bibi was a close second), and I think it dismisses the notion that the Palestinians have been the side against the peace process.

[Blue Meany]

13. I remember seeing a poll of Palestinians in which

40% were prepared to live in a single state with Israelis (ie., the one state solution), which is pretty remarkable considering how they have been treated. If, the majority favor a two-state solution, then that leaves a miniscule minority who want to roll back history to 1948. In any case, I think the West really misread the significance of the election of Hamas. Palestinians had a choice between a notoriously corrupt political party and Hamas, and the polls indicated that they were voting against corruption rather than for greater militancy or Islamism.

I don't think Israel cares much about Gaza, though they would like to have access to the natural gas off-shore, but it might benifit them if they could create a situation in which Egypt were pressured by other Arab countries to open its border with Gaza and let people out. Once out, they are not likely to return to Gaza and Israel will not have to think about them.

[Idealism]

16. I think the biggest factor for invading was political

The elections occur in February, and Livni (Kadima) was far behind Neo-conservative warmongering nut job Bibi (Likud). Livni was being ridiculed for being 'soft' with the Palestinians, so this was her push to try to be more hawkish and gain her party seats in the Knesset. It worked, to some extent, but she is still trailing Bibi by a good 6-8% depending on which poll you use. What worries me is that Kadima with Livni 2.0 at the helm in Israel means a right of center government for sure, but Likud with Bibi means absolutely NO chance of peace in the next decade. Bibi is the George Bush of the Middle-East, to put it bluntly.

When Hamas was elected, the Israeli government said it proved that the majority of Palestinians were 'unwilling to recognize Israel's right to exist' etc, etc.

My question is why does Israel get a free pass when they are about to elect a Neo-con warmonger with a proven tract record of violence? Judging by how far ahead Bibi was prior to the Gaza operations, it seems most Israeli's are unwilling to recognize a Palestinian state by their actions.

[Vegasaurus]

14. Revisitionist history is so much fun!

Why don't you look at WHO started wars, vs WHO accepted peace treaties every time.

Who rejected them and always resorted to violence and terrorism?

Yes, the Arab Palestinians.

Israel has developed more technology and medical advances than any other country, advances that the whole world uses.

It surely doesn;'t need to be caught up in tribal warfare.

[Idealism]

15. I am sorry that you feel the Palestinians are beneath your precious Israel

It is too bad that you don't realize that Israel has been offered peace with many Palestinian groups, Hamas included, over a dozen times in the past two decades. The Golan Heights and 8% of the West Bank (the best 8% consequently) is worth more to Israel than peace. The UN issued resolution after resolution saying those settlements were illegal, only to hear the same response from Israel that the Arab league got whenever they offered Israel a long term peace in return for 1967 borders: absolute silence.

You don't even realize why rockets have been flying, or why suicide bombers wanted to blow up Israeli's. You think some crazy militants just got this idea in their head to cause Israel harm, and that Israel did nothing to harm them? You don't realize how Sharron, Bibi, and Olmert have executed over a dozen top Palestinian leaders in cold blood, do you? Imagine how you would feel if a Mexican drug cartel assassinated President Obama; wouldn't you be angry as hell and want to retaliate? The bombs would be dropping within 30 minutes, don't fool yourself.

The worst part of this whole issue is that several high ranking Israeli's in the military, in the Knesset, and even one of Sharron's cabinet members spoke out against their brutal policy of assassination. They said it would harm the peace talks for years to come, but that wasn't their gravest concern. Sharron's Minister of the Interior went so far as to denounce the policy, saying Prime Minister Sharron signed an execution order on thousands of Israeli's. He knew of the retaliation it would cause, the anger in the Arab world, but he was outvoted and the killing of Sheik Yassin marked a new low in I/P relations, ensuring the cycle of violence remains intact for years to come.

[Beregond2]

4. What could there possibly be in Gaza worth billions?

[tekisui]

5. Nothing anymore.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. The people

While Saudi's motives should always be looked at when they offer this level of money, they seem to be on the right track. People who are adequately fed and housed tend to be more rational.

[Marrah_G]

17. It will take billions to fix the basic infrastructure

Imagine your state, without water, power, supplies...your schools and hospitals leveled. Housing gone. Crops gone. No economy in which to generate money. Caged behind wall, relying on those who are bombing you.

[Scurrilous]

8. Busy neighbourhoods flattened into moonscapes

<snip>

By Donatella Roveraon
Amnesty International
January 20, 2009

http://livewire.amnesty.org/2009/01/20/busy-neighbourhoods-flattened-into-moonscapes/

<snip>

"Each day, wherever we go we are struck by the extent of the destruction. We take photos and film everywhere we go, but the scale of the devastation is impossible to capture on camera. Previously busy neighbourhoods have been flattened into moonscapes.

Other large areas look like they’ve been hit by earthquakes. There is no lens wide enough to embrace the sheer dimensions of the devastation.

Orchards and road have been churned up by Israeli army tanks and armoured D9 bulldozers; the latter sometimes dragging plough-like hooks which ripped the roads behind them – just one example of wanton destruction. Buildings with no apparent military value have been destroyed in vast numbers.

Power lines have been torn down, and water mains ripped up. Gaza’s infrastructure, already much debilitated by previous waves of destruction and years of sanctions, is now in dire condition. Prolonged blackouts are the norm, tens of thousands of people have no access to clean water and sewage is now flowing in the open from the broken conduits.

Artillery shells, designed for use in conventional battlefield scenarios, have been fired into dense residential areas. It’s hard to see what military sense this makes. The Israeli army claims that they are firing at militants launching rockets, but artillery is, in military jargon, an area weapon, wholly unsuitable for pinpoint targets.

Israeli forces also fired mortar shells into the street outside an UNWRA school in Jabalia killing at least 41 people, among them 10 members of one family. In an UNRWA primary school in Beit Lahiya, where 1,898 people were sheltering from the fighting, an artillery shell hit a classroom on the second floor where 35 people were sleeping at 6am one morning. Two brothers, aged five and seven, were killed.

Their 18-year-old sister was grievously injured and had to have her leg amputated. Their mother lost a hand and sustained a serious head injury. Twelve others were injured. Their relatives told us that they had fled their homes to escape the bombardments and had come to the school hoping to find safety.

Shortly afterwards, a classroom on the same floor was burnt out in a fire caused by white phosphorus. Luckily, those sheltering there, including three disabled people, were able to escape.

Time and again today, Monday 19 January, people told us that during the past three weeks there had been nowhere for them to go where they could feel safe. Schools, medical facilities and UN buildings all took direct hits.

By the rubble of the American School in Gaza we met the father of school guard Mahmoud Mohammed Selmi Abu Qleiq, who was killed when Israeli F16 aircraft bombed the school campus. It was Gaza’s only international school, providing a progressive, co-ed style of education in English, and presented itself as ‘part of the vision for the future of Palestine’. Now all that is left of the school is a huge mass of tangled wire and gigantic concrete slabs.

The old man sat overlooking the rubble and explained how he tried to call his son’s mobile phone when he heard the huge explosions, but he never answered… His son’s body was found 50 metres from the school."

more

[Scurrilous]

18. Israel’s doctrine of destruction: Bombs to ‘send Gaza back decades’

<snip>

"In the last days before Israel imposed a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza to avoid embarrassing the incoming Obama administration, it upped its assault, driving troops deeper into Gaza City, intensifying its artillery bombardment and creating thousands more displaced people.

Israel’s military strategy in Gaza, even in what its officials were calling the “final act”, followed a blueprint laid down during the Lebanon war more than two years ago.

Then, Israel destroyed much of Lebanon’s infrastructure in a month of intensive air strikes. Even in the war’s last few hours, as a ceasefire was being finalised, Israel fired more than a million cluster bombs over south Lebanon, apparently in the hope that the area could be made as uninhabitable as possible.

Similarly, Israel’s destruction of Gaza continued with unrelenting vigour to the very last moment, even though according to reports in the Israeli media the air force exhausted what it called its “bank of Hamas targets” in the first few days of fighting.

The military sidestepped the problem by widening its definition of Hamas-affiliated buildings. Or as one senior official explained: “There are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum because everything is connected and everything supports terrorism against Israel.”

That included mosques, universities, most government buildings, the courts, 25 schools, 20 ambulances and several hospitals, as well as bridges, roads, 10 electricity generating stations, sewage lines, and 1,500 factories, workshops and shops.

Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah estimate the damage so far at $1.9 billion, pointing out that at least 21,000 residential apartment buildings need repairing or rebuilding, forcing 100,000 Palestinians into refugeedom once again. In addition, 80 per cent of all agricultural infrastructure and crops were destroyed. The PA has described its estimate as “conservative”.

None of this will be regretted by Israel. In fact the general devastation, far from being unfortunate collateral damage, has been the offensive’s unstated goal. Israel has sought the political, as well as military, emasculation of Hamas through the widespread destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and economy."

more