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Israel rules out opening Gaza border if Hamas gains

by 158 | January 22, 2009 at 07:23 pm

107 views | 2 Recommendations | 3 comments

This will be the next big dispute.

If Hamas really cares for the

welfare of Gazans they will accept

others controlling the money and aid.

Israel has all but ruled out fully reopening border crossings with the Gaza Strip as long as Hamas rules the enclave or stands to benefit from easing of the restrictions, a top adviser to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

Hamas has made a shaky cease-fire, which ended Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, conditional on Israel lifting its blockade, which, the adviser made clear, would not happen anytime soon.

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Smallman (not verified)

at 22:03 on January 25th, 2009

And, I suppose, if Maori leaders had really cared about their people, they should have just surrendered to British forces; or if colonials in the US had cared about their people, they should have just allowed London to control imports and tax duties.

Incidentally, hasn't Israel controlled Gaza's money for years - I don't just mean by maintaining a blockade, I mean by actually physically collecting taxes on behalf of the democratically elected Hamas government.

158

at 07:52 on January 26th, 2009

Gaza has a right to choose to attack Israel any way they wish and Israel has a right to defend itself with all the weapons it has.

Hamas took power in 2007 by military coup, removing the legal government and killing more Gazans than Israel has killed.

mech01 (not verified)

at 09:07 on February 4th, 2009

hamas gained control in a free democratic election. the tuth is that hamas has done much for the people of gaza like building schools and hospitals. i don't support the idea that they want to wipe israel off the map but i do realize that hamas is part of the county's legitamate government