UN-Truth

The son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, now comatose in an Israeli medical facility, has written in Israel’s YNet news that “Gaza Strip residents must reject terrorism – or face the consequences”.

Gilad Sharon said in his article that “Israel’s leadership is debating. On the one hand, it knows (or so we hope) that the situation in Sderot and Gaza-region communities cannot continue. Yet on the other hand it is justifiably worried about the price of a large-scale ground operation that could exact a heavy casualty toll and burden us with responsibility for the fate of Gaza residents. Israel subjected itself to yet another limitation: Avoiding a humanitarian blow to Gaza residents who are uninvolved in terrorism. As usual with this government and the person who heads it, it chose to do a little of this and a little of that: Partial humanitarian pressure on the one hand, and limited military activity on the other hand. But as we know, a little of this and a little of that is not enough of both. As if the Gaza population is not suffering right now, and as if a particular kind of suffering that lasts for years and with no end in sight is better than massive pressure for a limited time. The State seeks all sorts of explanations to show the High Court of Justice that partially cutting off the electricity supply to Gaza does not constitute a humanitarian blow. That’s nonsense, as such measure would clearly hurt the population, but what’s the alternative? … This is an extreme situation and therefore it requires an extreme solution. The civilian pressure on the population should bring about an end to rocket attacks on Israel. I’m not talking about curbing the flow of water, food, and medicine, yet all the rest should be curbed completely. The State must openly and courageously face the High Court of Justice and say: ‘This is Israel’s foreign and defense policy. We are obligated to do it in order to protect our citizens, and this is better both for Gazans and for us over a large-scale operation in the Strip that would involve losses among our troops and among the civilian population in Gaza’. I’m certain that the High Court of Justice will respect this – it will certainly respect such stance much more than the ridiculous attempts to explain that such moves would not hurt the population … In the framework of phased punishments, we should view the cutting off of electricity and fuel as a lower phase than injury or death in a military operation”… Gilad Sharon’s full commentary in YNet is published here.

Filed under: Gaza, Israel, Middle East Peace Process