(Washington Post) Editorial - The big revelation of this Gaza fight has been the degree to which Hamas has invested in stockpiling missiles capable of striking Israeli cities and constructing cross-border tunnels whose only purpose is to carry out offensive attacks inside Israel. Israel is insisting, reasonably, that its troops remain in Gaza at least long enough to destroy the tunnels. It is also making the obvious point that a solution to the conflict must prevent Hamas from focusing Gaza's economy on the production of more missiles and tunnels. Israel is demanding that Hamas be disarmed as a part of any peace. It might be possible to make Hamas' surrendering of its missiles the condition for steps that would enable Gaza's economic development. At a minimum, new security provisions should aim at preventing Hamas from importing more military supplies. More broadly, the Obama administration should be working with Egypt and Mr. Abbas, as well as Israel, to end the conflict in a way that reduces rather than reinforces Hamas' power over Gaza.
2014-07-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive