Israel Under Fire For Not Letting Itself Be Under More Fire

Gaza Strip, March 29 – Following the interdiction of an attempt to smuggle explosives or other weapons into the Gaza Strip via the Mediterranean, human rights organizations, Palestinians, and European government figures are accusing the Jewish state of refusing to accede to attempts to harm its people.

Israel fired on a vessel transporting arms from Egypt last week, resulting in the deaths of several Palestinians and secondary explosions on the boat attesting to the presence of armaments. The organizations and activists were quick to accuse Israel of firing on innocent fishermen, whose craft has traditionally involved the conveyance of explosives across international borders under cover of darkness.

“This Israeli violation is unacceptable, and Israel must bear the consequences for not letting the Palestinians import what they wish, even if that includes materials that could harm Israel,” said Human Rights Watch spokeswoman Turnza Bleindeye. “Palestinians like to shoot at Israel and blow things up as close as possible to Israelis, and Israel will simply have to accept that.” She characterized the protective measures that Israel takes along its frontiers and coastline “unfortunate,” and lamented that Israel’s agreements with the Palestinian Authority itself assign that task to Israel.

Similar criticism of the Netanyahu government’s policies were voiced last week after the discovery of a tunnel hundreds of meters long and as deep as twenty meters underground leading under the Gaza fence into Israel. The tunnel’s lighting, ventilation systems, and concrete reinforcement indicate the use that Hamas is making of construction materials that do manage to enter the strip despite Israeli restrictions and the effective closure of tunnels from Egypt. Human rights organizations and Palestinians have decried the restrictions, saying they make development impossible, and that Israel will simply have to suck it up and tolerate kidnappings, bombings, and other hostile acts by infiltrators from the Gaza Strip.