Bordering on chaos
By Haaretz Editorial
Efforts to secure the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit and to
keep the Qassam rockets away from northern Negev communities have
evolved over the past few days into an all-out campaign against the
government of the Palestinian Authority.
To
begin with, the political echelon ordered the arrest of a group of
ministers and parliamentarians from among the Hamas leadership.
Yesterday, the Israel Air Force carried out a strike on the office of
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. And senior government
spokespersons threatened that if Corporal Shalit is not released soon,
additional steps can and will be taken against the Hamas leaders, who
are deemed responsible for the incident at Kerem Shalom and its
consequences.
Justice and Foreign Ministry officials have said
that the members of Hamas' political wing were not nabbed in order to
serve as bargaining chips in talks with Shalit's captors, but were
arrested under suspicion of committing offenses under the Prevention of
Terrorism Law. Nevertheless, the decision to arrest politicians who
were elected in a vote that took place as a result of U.S. pressure and
with Israel's full consent is not purely a legal matter, but rather a
highly significant, strategic move.
Hamas' victory in the
elections of the Palestinian Legislative Council boded ill for the
future of relations between Israel and the Palestinians and for the
security of civilians on both sides. However, getting rid of a central
government in the territories brings with it a disaster that is
sevenfold greater. In the eyes of the Palestinian public, an Israeli
arrest warrant is viewed as a badge of honor for a politician. No
Palestinian political leader with any sense would dare to rise to power
on the turrets of Israeli tanks. Even if the Fatah bureaucrats, under
the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, decide to consider the option and are
tempted to fill the vacuum - they are unlikely to remain in power for
too long.
The official eradication of the Palestinian
government will leave the government of Israel morally and legally
responsible for the well-being of the civilians in the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip, too. If the government of Israel fails to understand on
its own that chaos will lead to Somalization on the other side of the
street, the international community will be forced to stop the rot. No
wonder the neighboring states, Egypt and Jordan, are monitoring the
crisis with increasing worry.
The political echelon, which is
making every possible effort to secure the release of the soldier, does
not have the right to be dragged into populist moves. The government
must keep the State of Israel's overall political-security interests at
the forefront of its concerns. Regardless of the current crisis, these
interests do not in any way fall in line with quashing a neighboring
government and leaving millions of civilians to the mercy of armed
militias.
Media reports indicate that despite the far-reaching
implications of the siege on the Hamas government, the decision to take
action against the Hamas leaders was taken without a discussion in the
government, and not even with the approval of the political-security
cabinet. The ministers, and particularly those from the Labor Party,
must demand from the prime minister and defense minister an immediate
end to the attack on Hamas' political leaders, against whom there is no
evidence to indicate that they are involved in planning or carrying out
acts of terror.
Switzerland says Israel violating
international law in Gaza Strip
4 July - Associated Press: Switzerland said Monday that Israel has been violating international
law in its Gaza offensive by heavy destruction and endangering
civilians in acts of collective punishment banned under the Geneva
conventions on the conduct of warfare.
"A
number of actions by the Israel Defense Forces in their offensive
against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of proportionality
and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment, which is
forbidden," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"There
is no doubt that Israel has not taken the precautions required of it in
international law to protect the civilian population and
infrastructure," it said. The statement did not name the Geneva
Conventions, but it referred to provisions of the 1949 treaty, which is
regarded as the cornerstone of international law on the obligations of
warring and occupying powers.
Switzerland, as the depository of
the conventions, has a responsibility to call meetings if it finds
general problems with the implementation of the treaty, but it does not
have any special powers to interpret the document.
Both the
principle of proportionality and the ban on collective punishment are
found in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which spells out the obligations
of occupying powers toward the civilian population under their control.
Israel
has used tanks, troops, gunboats and aircraft to attack the Gaza area
over the past week to press militants to free captured IDF Corporal
Gilad Shalit.
When it launched its first large-scale military
action in Gaza since the disengagement from the coastal strip last
summer, Israel's declared purpose was to press militants to release
Shalit. In statements since, government officials have said they also
mean to disable the Hamas government and stop gunmen from launching
Qassam rockets at southern Israel.
"They have criticized us even
though we are showing restraint," Aviv Shir-On, Israel's ambassador in
Bern, told The Associated Press. "We are disappointed that the Swiss
government did not issue such statements when Israel's civilian
population was constantly under attack from the Gaza Strip."
Shir-On
said the criticism was unfair when Israel was supplying people in Gaza
with electricity, water, fresh food and necessary medicine even though
Hamas was sworn to the Israel's destruction.
Switzerland also
called for the "rapid release" of Shalit, but said Israel had an
obligation "to respect international humanitarian law in the measures
it undertakes to liberate the captured soldier."
It said
Israel's destruction last week of the main Gaza electricity power
station and its attack on the office of the Palestinian prime minister
was unjustified. It also urged Israel to free Hamas legislators,
including eight ministers who have been seized.
"The arbitrary
arrests of a large number of democratically elected representatives of
the people and ministers ... cannot be justified," the statement said.
Switzerland said it had earmarked an additional 1 million francs ($820,000) to provide medical supplies to civilians in Gaza.