The Financial Times One Southwark Bridge London, UK 29 December 2008
Re: Gaza
Sir, Your editorial on Gaza [Bombing Gaza is not a solution, 29 December 2008] rightly lifts our gaze to the lack of a finger lifted “to try to stop it.” You point out Israel’s disproportionate “ferocity” in these attacks, as well as the democratically elected status of Hamas. Indeed the root cause of contention is “the Israeli occupation” as you aver. Israel did not honor the truce; it did not release the human beings in Gaza from their inhumane imprisonment. Without control of the borders, without being able to move freely to jobs and to markets, the entire population is imprisoned. “Trying to crush Gaza from the air is self-defeating” as you say. Then why this operation and why now? A former US military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggests this may be Israel’s training operation in a runup to attacking Iran during the brief window of impunity before the impending US political “change”. Iran is the only effective power which, through Hezbullah, has driven Israel from areas occupied since 1967. The question to ask is: from what altitude is Israel dropping the bombs? Can you hear jets screaming in? Are Gazans launching anti-aircraft weapons against them? If not, Israel may be testing whether it can define a target from a high altitude and hit it. Rather than waste materiel on training exercises in unpopulated desert areas, they can get accurate feedback on their capabilities in “the crowded Gaza strip” - without accurate information from the barred journalists. Watch this space.
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