AN ISRAELI aircraft fired a rocket into the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis yesterday, wounding a Palestinian gunman Israel claimed was linked to Tuesday’s bombing of an Israeli army border patrol.
Five other people were hurt, most of them schoolchildren. Palestinian militants fired two rockets into Israel, underlining the urgency of US envoy George Mitchell’s primary aim: to shore up the Gaza ceasefire before the violence escalates out of control.
The Israeli Ha'aretznewspaper had a cartoon yesterday of Mr Mitchell standing in front of a large picture of Ireland, together with the chief Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators.
Mr Mitchell, who played a key role in brokering the Belfast Agreement, is asking: “So who is playing the Protestants and who the Catholics?”
But if President Barack Obama’s new pointman for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needed a reality check, it came with the exchange of attacks just before his meeting yesterday with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
After talks in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Mr Mitchell linked the opening of the crossings to Gaza with the Israeli demand to prevent Hamas rearming. “To be successful in preventing the illicit traffic of arms into Gaza there must be a mechanism to allow the flow of legal goods, and that should be with the participation of the Palestinian Authority.”
He wants the main Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened on the basis of a US-brokered agreement which put the Palestinian terminal under the supervision of the Palestinian Aut-hority and EU monitors. Hamas, which seized control in Gaza in 2007, insists its forces also play a role. Israel opposes any Hamas role at the border crossings.
Mr Mitchell did not schedule any meetings with representatives of Hamas, which Washington classifies as a terrorist organisation.
Reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is likely to be a key element in a durable Gaza truce.
The fact that Mr Mitchell arrived in the Middle East only days into the Obama presidency is a clear indication that the new administration means business.
However, diplomacy will likely be put on hold until after the Israeli general election on February 10th. With right-wing candidate Benjamin Netanyahu clear favourite to become the next prime minister, an already difficult task might be about to become a lot more difficult.