Israel’s agreement on Gaza must come from Abbas
Four conditions are indispensable to ending Gaza's agony that, if met, will make it “obvious that Hamas’ way of terror brought nothing but devastation” and the way of Ramallah, negotiation and not violence “is the way for the Palestinian people to achieve its rights.”
The war in Gaza will not necessarily be concluded with an agreement, but with an unwritten arrangement. What are the assumptions on which it should it be based?
First, we need to look at the map. Gaza is at the doorstep of Israel. On two out of its sides, Gaza borders with Israel. The third border is the Sinai desert of Egypt, and the fourth is the sea. Gaza cannot be governed, in the long run, by a movement whose ideology totally opposes Israel's mere existence. The raison d'etre of this movement is the "resistance" — a euphemism for terror and violence. Given this ideology and Israel’s military might, the 1.8 million Gaza Palestinians are doomed by Hamas leaders to be permanent victims. But the geography tells us something else: As far as energy, water, environment, health care and commerce are concerned, one can't separate Gaza and Israel. There is no life for Gaza without a link to Israel.
