Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Abbas's Responsibility for Gaza Crisis

by Bassam Tawil
  • In a letter to the UN Secretary-General, Mahmoud Abbas's Foreign Ministry accused Israel of committing "crimes" against Palestinians civilians, especially in the Gaza Strip, and renewed the call for providing "international protection" for the Palestinians.
  • This is the same Abbas whose sanctions have triggered the recent violence along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. If anyone needs "international protection," it is those protesters who are being targeted by Abbas's security forces in the West Bank.
  • Abbas is especially worried that the international community will be funding economic and humanitarian projects in the Gaza Strip behind his back. He wants the money to be spent through his government. He wants to control every penny the international community earmarks for the welfare of his people.
  • What exactly does Abbas want? He wants the people of the Gaza Strip to continue protesting so that he will be able to continue to demonize Israel.

Left: A Palestinian rioter behind a smokescreen from a burning tire, at the Gaza-Israel border fence, June 8, 2018. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images) Right: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is continuing to pursue a policy of double-dealing regarding the Gaza Strip.

On the one hand, President Mahmoud Abbas and the PA leadership continue inciting against Israel by holding it solely responsible for the humanitarian and economic crisis in the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, Abbas and his Ramallah-based government continue to impose strict economic sanctions on the Gaza Strip.

Now, Abbas is bending over backwards to foil a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and the other Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip. Abbas says he is worried that such a deal would pave the way for the implementation of US President Donald Trump's yet-to-be-announced plan for peace in the Middle East.

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