There is a story in the news today about a “fishing boat” which left Gaza for sea – and, days later, was heading back to shore with its back end clearly weighted down with “cargo”.
That either was the greatest catch of fish in Middle East history, or the ship did not go on a fishing excursion but was loaded with something else.
Israel found out for sure what the “something else” was, when – after warning shots caused the two men in the boat to jump overboard and swim for shore, Israel fired into the boat – and it blew up because some of the weapons detonated.
This, by itself, is an interesting story. But the back-story is even more interesting.
From the relevant article published by the Europe-Israel news site:
“The Egyptians have destroyed most of the smuggling tunnels between Rafah and Egypt and as a result, Hamas is being forced to use maritime smuggling routes more,” said Maj. Maor, who added, “It is more complicated to operate in the southern Gaza Strip than it is in the north, but the relationship with Egyptian forces is very good and cordial. We maintain dialogue and coordination with them through battalion-level meetings on the beach.”
What does that tell you? Several things:
-Israel isn’t the only country that borders Gaza (an obvious fact for anyone who bothers to look at a map, but one which an amazing number of people are completely ignorant of);
-Egypt, the other country with a Gaza border, is just as sick of and wary of, hamas’ activities as Israel is (that’s why it has destroyed hamas’ smuggling tunnels, and why it is every bit as vigilant at the Refah border crossing as Israel is at its border crossings);
-Israel and Egypt are in full coordination in this effort – not as adversaries, but as two countries perfectly willing to work together regarding a common problem.
Israel and Egypt have been at peace for 37 years. Which proves that Israel is willing and able to make peace with an Arab neighbor, even one which probably wishes it did not exist.
When has hamas-run Gaza been at peace with anyone, Israeli or Arab?
There’s a lesson somewhere in there about why there is no peace between Israel and Gaza – and why there is no peace between Israel and Judea/Samaria (aka the west bank), which is in unity with Gaza.
Too bad so many people are incapable of learning it.
