washington • The Gaza border breach has undermined the Bush administration’s strategy of isolating Hamas and experts say such crises dim US chances of getting an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty by the end of the year.
“Hamas not only blew a hole in the wall but they also blew a hole in the whole policy of continued isolation of Hamas,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst now with the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution.
Militants blasted a hole in the border between the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and Egypt last week, allowing hundreds of thousands of Gazans through the gap to buy food and other goods unavailable due to an Israeli blockade.
Analysts say the frontier breach probably boosted the popularity of Hamas among Palestinians, both in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
That was the exact opposite of what Washington wants as it tries to strengthen the more moderate President Mahmoud Abbas whose Fatah party is in charge in the West Bank.
Gaza border crossings are a battleground in the power struggle between Hamas and Abbas who is taking part in talks with Israel launched by President George W Bush.
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1 comment:
Annopolis, the Middle East visit......what a waste of tax payers money.
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