Published: 15 May 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
DURING THE PAST 13 YEARS, Israel has imposed import and export restrictions through Gaza’s sole commercial crossing into Israel; these have crushed Gaza’s economy and brought basic infrastructure – water, electricity, sewage, and health services - to the point of collapse. A viral rampage in Gaza would have seriously threatened Israel despite the closure.
And yet, when the Gaza cases appeared in late March, Israeli officials snapped into a pragmatic mode of action, and quietly coordinated with Gaza in unusual ways. Doctors from Gaza were brought in under the auspices of Israel’s Coordinator for Government Affairs in the Territories, an arm of the Defence Ministry for training in treatment of the virus.
Inside Gaza, Hamas authorities closed mosques and other public places, keeping infection rate low. Israeli private companies turned to Gaza factories to produce cheap PPE, giving some local businesses a desperately needed economic boost. This, too, required Israeli government involvement, since all goods moved in and out of Gaza must be coordinated through Israeli military approval processes.
Israeli news is even reporting on quiet negotiations around a prisoner exchange.
These developments show that the Israeli government is capable of more constructive relations with Gaza’s people and even its leaders, when it serves Israel’s interest.
FULL STORY Israel prevented mass death in Gaza during the pandemic; Israelis approved (Forward)
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