 Ronit Hakmon reacts to the damage to her home in Beer Sheva, Israel, on Tuesday, November 20, after it was hit by a rocket from Gaza militants. Explosions terrified Palestinians and Israelis for a seventh day as diplomats scrambled for a solution before airborne attacks escalate to a ground war in Gaza.  Palestinian families evacuate their homes following an Israeli airstrike Tuesday in Gaza City. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the weeklong attacks, the Gaza Ministry of Health says.  Palestinian children stand at the gate of their home Tuesday as they watch a funeral procession for those killed following an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza.  A Palestinian carries a bag of items salvaged from a house destroyed in an Israeli airstrike Tuesday on Gaza City.  An Israeli soldier reads his morning prayers Tuesday at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza border as they prepare for a potential ground operation in the Palestinian coastal enclave.  A Palestinian boy walks through the rubble of Hamas commander's house Tuesday in the southern Gaza town of Rafa. An overnight Israeli airstrike targeted the home.  An Israeli F-15 takes off from an Israeli air force base on Monday, November 19, on a mission over the Gaza Strip. Israel carried out 80 strikes on Monday, raising to more than 1,300 the number of sites targeted since it began its bombing campaign on Wednesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.  An Israeli pilot adjusts a strap as he sits in the cockpit of a jet at an air force base on Monday.  Palestinian firefighters extinguish a blaze following an Israeli airstrike in a Gaza City tower housing Palestinian and international media on Monday.  An Israeli girl holds her sister as they take cover in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Monday in Nitzan, Israel.  Israeli children play in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter on Monday in Nitzan.  Birzeit University students clash with Israeli soldiers at the Atara checkpoint close to the West Bank university as they protest against Israel's military action on Monday.  Birzeit University students clash with Israeli soldiers on Monday.  Palestinian women mourn during the funeral Monday of members of one family killed when an Israeli missile struck a three-story building in Gaza City on Sunday.  Israeli artillery shells hit a target in the Gaza Strip on Monday near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip.  An Israeli soldier from a tank squadron attends a morning briefing at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Monday.  Israeli soldiers from a tank squadron prepare ammunition at an Israeli army deployment area on Monday.  A paramedic helps a Palestinian woman out of her building, which was damaged during an Israeli air raid on a nearby sporting center in Gaza City on Monday. At least 90 Palestinians, including a family of 10, have been killed, officials say.  A man covers his nose and mouth as he passes burning debris after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Monday.  A Palestinian man carries a stuffed toy through a street littered with debris after an air raid on a sporting center in Gaza City on Monday.  Palestinian men gather around a crater caused by an Israeli airstrike at a home in Gaza City on Sunday, November 18.  Palestinian relatives grieve at the hospital in Gaza City on Sunday over family members killed in an airstrike.  Palestinians search the debris of the home following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Sunday.  An Israeli emergency worker inspects the damage to a car in Ofakim, Israel, that was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip on Sunday.  Israeli soldiers wait at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Sunday as they prepare for a potential ground operation in the Palestinian coastal enclave. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is ready to "significantly escalate" its operation against militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.  Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on an office of Hamas television channel Al-Aqsa in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Sunday. Israeli warplanes hit the Gaza City media center and homes in northern Gaza in the early morning.  Palestinian children look at damaged buildings following Israeli air strikes Sunday in Rafah.  Israeli soldiers wearing prayer shawls conduct morning prayers Sunday at an Israeli army deployment area.  An Israeli soldier from a tank squadron adjusts the tank barrel at an Israeli army deployment area on Sunday.  Cloth hangs from a window of a building damaged during Israeli air strikes on Gaza City on Sunday.  A Palestinian demonstrator throws stones in front of the headquarters of the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday during a protest against Israel's ongoing military operation in Gaza.  A fireball rises as the Israeli air force carries out a raid over Gaza City on Saturday, November 17.  An Israeli woman and her children take cover as sirens wail in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza by Palestinian militants were the "precipitating event" for the fighting under way now, U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday.  Palestinians walk amid the debris of a burning factory near the house of Ezzedine Haddad, commander of the armed wing of the Hamas movement, after it was destroyed during an Israeli air strike on Gaza City on Saturday.  A Palestinian woman helps her friend cover her face with a traditional scarf during clashes at the Hawara checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday. People rallied against the Israeli military operations.  Palestinians stand on the rubble of the demolished home of Ezzedine Haddad, commander of the armed wing of the Hamas movement, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Saturday. Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed 10 Palestinians, five of them militants, as nine Israelis were hurt by rocket fire, four of them soldiers, medics said.  Israeli soldiers fire tear gas toward strone throwers demonstrating against the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday. Israeli strikes on Gaza destroyed the Hamas government headquarters as Israel called up thousands more reservists for a possible ground war.  Palestinian youth clash with Israeli soldiers during protests at the Hawara checkpoin on Saturday.  Israeli soldiers stand guard by the Iron Dome defense system launch site on Saturday in Tel Aviv, Israel.  A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with Gaza shows smoke billowing following an Israeli air strike inside the Palestinian territory on Saturday. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel would be held to account for the children who were among 40 people dead in three days of airstrikes on Gaza.  A Palestinian youth takes cover behind a makeshift barrier during clashes with Israeli soldiers on November 17, 2012. Israeli strikes on Gaza destroyed the Hamas government headquarters as Israel called up thousands more reservists for a possible ground war.  An Israeli missile from the Iron Dome defense missile system is launched to intercept and destroy incoming rocket fire from Gaza on November 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israeli troops have been massing on the border as some 200 targets were hit overnight in Gaza, including Hamas cabinet buildings.  Israeli civilians run for cover during a rocket attack launched from Gaza on November 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel.  Israeli soldiers gather next to their armored bulldozers stationed on Israel's border with Gaza on Saturday, November 17.  Israeli soldiers fire tear gas toward stone throwers demonstrating against the Israeli military offensive in Gaza in the village of Beit Omar, north of the West Bank town of Hebron, on Saturday. Egypt and Turkey put the onus on Israel to end the fighting around Gaza as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Cairo a day after Washington urged the two governments to pressure the Palestinians.  An injured student from the University of Birzeit is carried away Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers as hundreds of students took part in a demonstration against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip in the Israeli occupied West Bank town of Betunia. Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 10 Palestinians and destroyed the Hamas government headquarters.  A student from the University of Birzeit throws a molotov cocktail toward Israeli soldiers during clashes.  Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli air raid in Gaza City on November 17, 2012. Israeli air strikes hit the cabinet headquarters of Gaza's Hamas government after militants fired rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as Israel called up thousands more reservists in readiness for a potential ground war.  Palestinian paramedics carry an injured woman on a stretcher Saturday following an Israeli air raid on a house in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.  Smoke billows across the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip on Saturday following Israeli air strikes inside the Palestinian territory.  A Palestinian Hamas policeman looks at an Israeli rocket in the street in Gaza City on Saturday.  An Israeli man walks to his house damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the moshav of Sde Uziyahu near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. The Israeli military said it had sealed off all main roads around Gaza and declared a closed military zone, in the latest sign it was poised to launch a first ground offensive on the Palestinian e nclave since December 2008-January 2009.  Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest near the Israeli Embassy in Madrid on Friday against Israel's aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip.  Israeli children wave their national flag Saturday as they greet a bus carrying soldiers on a road leading to the Israel-Gaza border near the southern Israeli town of Ofakim.  Israeli tanks maneuver at the Israeli-Gaza Strip border.  Relatives take cover from a rocket attack during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem in Kiryat Malachi, Israel, on Friday, November 16. At least three people were killed in the Israeli town when a rocket fired from Gaza struck an apartment building there on Thursday. Fighting between Israel and Hamas militants persisted Friday with no immediate end in sight.  A rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel sails into the air Friday.  Explosions erupt from spots targeted by Israeli airstrikes inside Gaza on Friday.  Israeli soldiers stand guard while explosives experts examine the site where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion in the village of Kisan, south of Bethlehem on Friday.  A relative grieves during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, on Friday.  Palestinian protesters hold up the Hamas flag during a rally Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.  People take cover during a rocket attack at a funeral Friday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel.  Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli security forces Friday in a West Bank village near Bethlehem.  An Israeli soldier aims at Palestinian youth at a West Bank checkpoint Friday during a protest against the fighting in Gaza.  Palestinian Fares Sadallah, 11, cries outside his home after an Israeli airstrike Friday in northern Gaza.  Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a blaze Friday at the Ministry of Interior in Gaza City following an Israeli air raid.  Relatives of Itzik Amsalam, who was killed Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, mourn during Friday's funeral.  A woman cries during the funeral of Itzik Amsalam on Friday.  An Israeli soldier fires a tear gas canister toward Palestinian stone throwers on a road mainly used by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Beit Omar on Friday.  Palestinians run for cover after an Israeli airstrike hits Gaza City on Friday.  Palestinian youths inspect a destroyed mosque in northern Gaza on Friday.  Israeli soldiers conduct a patrol as some 16,000 reserve troops are drafted in on Friday.  Palestinian mourners carry the body of Audi Naser during his funeral in Gaza on Friday.  Palestinian women and children cry during the funeral of Audi Naser on Friday.  Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the Civilian Affairs branch of the Ministry of Interior on Friday.  Smokes billows from a target of an Israeli airstrike Friday in Gaza near the border with Israel.  An Israeli woman looks out from an apartment building in Ashdod, Israel, damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants on Friday.  Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli airstrikes targeted the Interior Ministry building in Gaza City Friday.  Israelis take cover in a pipe used as a bomb shelter, after a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, November 15 in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. Rockets and shells crisscrossed between Israel and Gaza on Thursday as Palestinian militants continued rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and Israel pounded what it called terror sites.  An Israeli man looks out from an apartment building that was hit by a rocket launched presumably from the Gaza Strip, claiming three lives on Thursday in Kiryat Malachi, Israel.  Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli air strikes targeted an electricity generator that fed the house of Hamas's Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City, on Thursday.  A crater is left at a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City early Thursday.  Israeli soldiers rest by their armored personnel carriers stationed on the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday.  Rescue workers evacuate a body Thursday in the Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi after a rocket launched from Gaza hit an apartment building.   Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of Hanen Tafish, a 10-month-old girl, at the morgue of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday after she died following an Israeli air strike in the Zeitun neighbourhood.  Palestinians watch a funeral Thursday in southern Gaza.  A Palestinian pleads for help as he and others try to save a man trapped under his car after an Israeli air raid Thursday in northern Gaza.  Israeli police inspect an apartment building hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Kiryat Malakhi on Thursday. At least three Israelis were killed and four were wounded, an Israeli police spokesman said.  The Israeli military launches a missile Thursday from the southern city of Beersheba.  A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike inside Gaza on Thursday.  A Palestinian man inspects his damaged house following an Israeli airstrike early Thursday in Gaza City.  An Israeli reacts after a rocket launched from Gaza hits a building Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi.  Palestinian firefighters extinguish the blaze from the car of Ahmed al-Jaabari, head of Hamas' military wing, after an Israeli airstrike hit it in Gaza City on Wednesday, November 14. The Israeli strike killed al-Jaabari.  A woman sits inside a bomb shelter Wednesday in Netivot, Israel.  Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike Wednesday in Khan Younis, Gaza.  Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire from the car in which al-Jaabari was apparently riding.  A Palestinian man cries as security forces wheel al-Jaabari's body into a hospital.  Palestinian youths look inside a building where al-Jaabari's body was brought after the attack.  A wounded Palestinian girl cries at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.  Palestinian youths evacuate an elderly man following an Israeli airstrike.  Palestinian civilians leave their houses following an Israeli airstrike.                                                                                                      
Editor's note: Khaled Elgindy is a fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. From 2004-2009, he was an adviser to the Palestinian leadership on permanent-status negotiations with Israel and was a key participant in the negotiations launched at Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2007. (CNN) -- Reports of a possible cease-fire in Gaza brokered by Egypt emerged Tuesday, but without a more farsighted approach that addresses the dysfunctional dynamic within Palestinian politics, any truce is unlikely to be any more durable than previous ones. This latest Israeli offensive marks the sixth major military operation against Gaza since Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers in 2005, and the first since the massive military campaign known as "Cast Lead" four years ago. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was headed to the region Tuesday to join Egypt's negotiations for a truce. Egypt -- as the only other party with a direct stake in Gaza's stability and one of the few capable of talking directly to all key actors -- is best placed to play the role of peacemaker. There will be cease-fire.  But events in Gaza have strained already tense relations between Egypt and Israel, prompting Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy to withdraw his ambassador in Tel Aviv while dispatching his prime minister to Gaza in a show of solidarity with Hamas. With the Obama administration openly siding with Israel, U.S.-Egyptian ties have also been damaged. Israel says its offensive is aimed at ending rocket attacks from Gaza once and for all. Hamas wants to see an end to the five-year Gaza blockade and the reopening of its borders. In reality, neither Israel nor Hamas is likely to get what it wants because neither side appears to have a clear endgame. There is no way to eliminate Hamas. And even if its rocket-launching capabilities are destroyed, which seems unlikely, this war will only fuel its drive to rearm, just as it did after Cast Lead. Until the underlying grievances of both sides can be addressed, we should only expect the cycle of violence to continue. Become a fan of CNNOpinion Stay up to date on the latest opinion, analysis and conversations through social media. Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion and follow us @CNNOpinion on Twitter. We welcome your ideas and comments. Like Israel, Egypt has an interest in reining in Hamas and preventing weapons smuggling from its territory into Gaza, which further destabilizes the already volatile situation in the Sinai. Despite the strong ties between the Muslim Brotherhood-led government in Cairo and Hamas, itself a Brotherhood offshoot, the Egyptians are unhappy with Hamas' moves in both Gaza and the Sinai. For any truce to hold, it must also include other stakeholders, namely Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas is likely to emerge from this most recent conflict militarily weakened but politically strengthened, earning the respect and sympathy of both Palestinians and Arabs across the region. For Abbas, however, the opposite is true. The crisis has highlighted his powerlessness and growing irrelevance, even sparking new anti-Abbas protests in the West Bank. Abbas and his Fatah-dominated leadership in the West Bank have little to show for their rule except 20 years of failed negotiations and a feckless and bankrupt authority. But the fact that Egypt is also the primary mediator in internal Palestinian talks aimed at healing the split that has crippled the Palestinian Authority since the brief civil war of 2007 presents an opportunity to rehabilitate Abbas while reining in Hamas.   No escape for Gaza civilians  Netanyahu, Ban meet on Gaza Despite its record of violence, Hamas has also shown it can govern effectively and play pragmatic politics. The natural tension between governance and resistance is also reflected in the internal struggle between hard-liners and pragmatists within Hamas. Egypt, along with pro-Hamas governments such as Turkey and Qatar, would like to wean Hamas from its relationship with Iran, which supplies it with weapons and other support. The Israeli offensive makes this more difficult, however, and will only embolden the most militant elements within Hamas. Linking Palestinian reconciliation to a cease-fire arrangement will also give the Egyptians an additional leverage point over Hamas. Any cease-fire will of course have to bring an end to rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza or anywhere else as well as tougher action by Egypt on weapons smuggling through the Gaza tunnels. But for this to work, Hamas (not to mention ordinary Gazans) must also get something, particularly with respect to the blockade. Because neither Israel nor Egypt trust Hamas to police the border, reopening Gaza's border crossings will require a return of Abbas' Palestinian Authority there. But because this requires Hamas' consent, it can only happen in the context of Palestinian reconciliation and the re-emergence of a unified coherent Palestinian polity. In this way, not only does everyone get something, each actor has a stake in the others getting something as well. Such an arrangement will be extremely difficult but not impossible. One primary obstacle is Israeli and U.S. opposition to Palestinian reconciliation or anything that might be seen as strengthening Hamas. This self-defeating policy has been disastrous for Palestinians and Israelis alike as well as a spectacular failure (which may also help explain Israel's offensive). Hamas has more international legitimacy than ever, while the blockade of Gaza is crumbling bit by bit. While Abbas' Palestinian Authority teeters on the verge of financial ruin, the emir of Qatar is showering Hamas with hundreds of millions of dollars. The crisis is only intensifying this trend as Gaza plays host to one Arab leader after another. In the end, Palestinian unity may be the only way to save Hamas from itself and rescue Abbas from political oblivion. Fatah and Hamas do not have to share the same policies or even be in the same government, but they do have to find a way to share the same political space. In other words, they do not have to play on the same team, but they do have to agree on the rules of the game. Some will argue that bringing Hamas into the game would deal a fatal blow to the peace process with Israel. Yet even without Hamas the peace process is already dead. In any case, we will never know since a weak, ineffective and unrepresentative Palestinian leadership by definition will have neither the mandate to negotiate a conflict-ending peace deal with Israel nor the ability to implement it. The idea that Israel could negotiate with one set of Palestinians while making war on another, always questionable, is now totally untenable. Such a "grand bargain" will not be easy, and is certainly not without risks. But the risks of continuing to ignore realities are far greater. The extent to which Israel and the Palestinians, along with the United States and its allies, understand this will determine whether this will be the last Gaza war or simply a prelude to the next one. Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion. Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Khaled Elgindy.   |
11/20/2012
Opinion: How this can be last Gaza war
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