By Ted Belman
Meretz went to Egypt to push for an international force in Gaza and were told Egypt vehemently opposes deployment of int’l force in Gaza
Suleiman said Egypt fears such a deployment would seem an admission it is incapable of controlling the border.
He said of the idea “it is neither technically nor politically easy, and it is impractical.”
Cairo has also requested that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas cease calls for a peacekeeping force. Abbas has recently declared interest in such a force being deployed both in Gaza and in the West Bank. Abbas mentioned the conflict zone of Darfur in Sudan as a precedent.
Gaza’s border with Egypt is its only direct land link with the Arab world and is essential for the movement of goods and people. The Rafah crossing along the border has been mainly closed since Hamas’ takeover of the coastal strip in mid-June.Suleiman stressed that Hamas is against the deployment of an international force, in which he said Germany and the United States would not participate. In any event, peacekeepers should not be sent to Gaza without also being sent to the West Bank, he added.
The reasons given for being opposed to not make sense to me. What difference does it make if the peace keepers are in the West Bank too. There is no problem there. Isn’t for the international community to decide if “it is neither technically nor politically easy, or it is impractical.”
Perhaps the only reasons is that Egypt is backing Hamas and Hamas doesn’t want its style crimped.
