An Israel-Hamas truce has boiled down to a simple trade-off — For a day of calm, Israel adds five truckloads of cows and 200 tonnes of cement to its shipment of the barest basics to Gaza, but also punishes sporadic rocket fire by resealing the territory for a day.
Since the ceasefire deal was reached nearly three weeks ago, the trickle of extra goods has barely made a difference in the daily lives of 1.4 million Gazans, who have been cut off from the world since the violent Hamas takeover a year ago. Gazans are struggling with fuel rationing of 20 liters per driver a week, frequent blackouts and soaring food prices.
At the same time, the truce remains shaky and the two sides seem unable to move forward. Still, weary residents cling to hopes that this truce will hold where others failed.
“We need to breathe,” said Gaza trucker Shawki Abu Shanab, 40, who stretches scarce diesel fuel for his flatbed truck with motor and cooking oil and has no spare parts to fix worn tires and broken lights.
Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Gaza’s Hamas rulers are to halt rocket and mortar fire on Israeli border communities and Israel is to increase the flow of goods into Gaza. After the Hamas takeover, Israel largely sealed the territory, allowing only basic foods and medicines to enter. Once the truce takes hold firmly, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants two years ago is to be freed in a prisoner swap.
On Tuesday, each side blamed the other for lack of progress.
Hamas has not reined in all militants, particularly those from rival groups, and the Israeli army says 15 rockets and mortars have been fired since the truce took effect on June 19, including three mortars on Tuesday. Lieutenant Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said Hamas’ failure is slowing a broader opening of the crossings.
Hamas says Israel closed border crossings for seven of 17 days of post-truce operations.
“The calm is not shaky. The Israeli commitment to the calm is shaky,” said Said Siyam, a senior Hamas official, before heading to Cairo for more truce talks with Egyptian officials.
And despite some attempts to defuse tensions, both sides have stuck to pre-truce behavior.
In Gaza, an explosion went off on Tuesday in a Hamas military training camp, an apparent “work accident” that killed two militants and appeared to confirm Israeli fears that the group is using a lull to rearm. In the West Bank city of Nablus, Israel ordered an entire shopping mall shut down by August as an alleged Hamas front.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops raided the city hall of the West Bank town of Nablus yesterday, confiscating five computers in what appears to be part of an ongoing crackdown on institutions the military believes are linked to Hamas.
Hafez Shaheen, Nablus’ deputy mayor, said troops also raided six mosques and seized five buses belonging to schools close to Hamas.
Nablus’ mayor, Adli Yaish, is a Hamas politician who has been imprisoned by Israel.
The military had no immediate comment. But this week, troops have raided and shut down various Nablus facilities it says are linked to Hamas. Israel does not want Hamas to take over the West Bank as it took over Gaza last year.
The raids might also be an Israeli effort to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas’ rival.
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