======July 28
(1) Michael R Gordon, Even Gaza Truce Is Hard to Win, Kerry Is Finding; Troubled backup plan; Israel and Hamas each see reasons to hold off cease-fires. New York Times, July 28, 2014 (front-page top article).
(2) Jodi Rudoren and Ben Hubbard, Despite Gains, Hamas Sees a Fight for Its Existence and Presses Ahead; All but giving up on governing Gaza to focus on the battle. New York Times, July 28, 2014, at page A6.
www.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/world ... -presses-ahead.html
Quote:
“Though weary of war, many Gazans see the so-called resistance as the only possible path to pressing Israel and Egypt to open border crossings, and to ending Israel’s ‘siege’ on imports and exports and naval ‘blockade.’
“Faraj al-Loul, a plumber shopping for vegetables on Sunday in a Gaza City market, echoed the opinions of many residents interviewed who said life had become so miserable that they were willing to suffer the high costs of war if it could bring change.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel * * * said it [cease fire, plus hints of economic and social relief] must be exchanged for a ‘demilitarization of Gaza.’ That would mean the destruction of tunnels into Israel and of rocket stockpiles, with international guarantees that they would not be rebuilt or replenished, something Palestinian and Israeli analysts alike said Hamas would never abide.
My comment: I have been sympathetic about Palestinians’ causes since the First Intifada (1987-1991), seeing palestinian kids throwing stones who were met with bullets.
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