GAZA STRIP: Teetering on the brink
Several months of comparative peace and quiet in the Gaza Strip are on the verge of unraveling, raising the looming possibility of fresh rounds of bloodshed.
Israel tightened its blockade on the coastal strip after several days of clashes and rocket launches by Gazan militants toward Israeli border cities. Gaza City's main power plant shut down Thursday for lack of fuel and a crucial United Nations relief agency announced it had run out of supplies and would suspend distribution of food and household goods.
The escalating conflict is the strongest threat yet to the five-month cease-fire between Israel and the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza. The agreement, which is up for renewal next month, has largely held firm, and Israeli officials have said they hope to see it continue.
The latest cycle of conflict began on Nov. 4, in an event largely overshadowed by the U.S. president elections. Israeli forces launched a raid that night to shut down what the army claimed was a cross-border tunnel intended to be used to ambush and kidnap Israeli soldiers. Subsequent clashes and Israeli raids and airstrikes have killed at least 10 Gazans, most reportedly militant fighters.
In response, Gazan militant groups have resumed what had been daily launches of makeshift rockets toward southern Israeli towns. A fresh rocket barrage targeted the beleaguered city of Sderot on Tuesday, with reports of one elderly woman injured by shrapnel and several people treated for shell shock.
Israel meanwhile has barred foreign reporters from entering Gaza, prompting protests from the local Foreign Press Assn.
The Israeli public seems largely fed up with the Gaza stalemate -- with Israel in the position of supplying food, fuel and electricity to a territory controlled by a sworn enemy. A Jerusalem Post editorial claims that "Gaza's misfortunes are largely self-inflicted."
Former Army Col. Moshe Elad wonders "When will Israeli respond?" and claims Hamas "interprets Israel's conduct as grave weakness."
Israel's widely read Ynet news site quotes anonymous Palestinian sources as saying that Hamas is deliberately upping the tension with an eye toward influencing Israel's upcoming national elections. Hamas officials denied the charge and said the rocket launches were merely a natural response to Israeli provocation.
-- Ashraf Khalil in Jerusalem
P.S. Get news from the Middle East in your mailbox every day. The Los Angeles Times distributes a free daily newsletter with the latest headlines from the Middle East, including the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can subscribe by logging in at the website here, clicking on the box for "L.A. Times updates" and then clicking on the "World: Mideast" box.
