Word: gaza
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...GAZA STRIP: Even as world leaders met at Sharm El-Sheikh for an international anti-terror summit, Israel continued combating terrorism on its own. Palestinian lands remain sealed off, as they have been for the past two and a half weeks. Wednesday, for the first time, a convoy of food trucks was allowed to pass into the Gaza Strip but Palestinian produce, still not allowed into Israel, rots at the roadblocks. Prime Minister Shimon Peres vowed to keep Palestinian lands sealed off until those responsible for the bombings are in jail. The block imposed February 25 has created food shortages...
Hamas' goal has been the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state in the whole of Palestine as it was defined under the British mandate. Israel's peace partner, Yasser Arafat, has instead settled for limited self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a prelude, he hopes, to a secular Palestinian state alongside Israel. The fear among Hamas followers is that if Arafat succeeds, their vision will die, so their group and a smaller offshoot, Islamic Jihad, have engaged in a terror spree that has claimed at least 123 lives since the peace accord...
...sabotage campaign had, at least through last week, failed: Israel and the new Palestinian Authority continued to make progress toward implementing their agreements. Last fall Israeli troops, already departed from the autonomous part of the Gaza Strip, withdrew from most West Bank cities. Then, this past January, the Palestinians held elections, which Arafat won by a landslide--and Hamas boycotted. Polls showed unprecedentedly strong support for the peace process among the Palestinian public, and popular support for Hamas--once as high as 40%--dropped into the low teens...
Even Arafat's leadership will not be enough. He must facilitate a serious peace movement among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, one that is well-organized and which can compete with Hamas for the soul of the people. Where are the leaders of Islam who should be portraying Hamas as a religious disgrace? Without their voices, violence will continue...
...there is reason for hope. Arafat has moved to crack down on terrorists. Over a thousand Palestinians gathered for a peace rally in Gaza. There is reason to think that if the Palestinian people truly believe in peace and nonviolence that they can yet bring them about...