Richard Gaspar's List: Israel

• Washington and Jerusalem were dismayed to discover last week that Egypt's transitional military rulers (SCAF) were preparing to drop the reins of government and hand them over - lock, stock and barrel, including the armed forces - to civilian rule, i.e., the Muslim Brotherhood, at the earliest opportunity. This decision upends the Obama administration's plans for post-Mubarak: The military rulers were to have stayed in place until a new, democratic constitution was drafted and a moderate president acceptable to the Egyptian people elected.
• anxious to escape the country's plunge into chaos, economic breakdown and the uncertainties of an approaching Middle East war
• Led by SCAF chairman Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the military is resolved not to wait for the next two stages of the democratic transition to go through.
• Tantawi has already struck a deal to hand over the presidential powers vested in him provisionally to the incoming Speaker of Parliament, the choice of whom is up to the Brotherhood.

• Hamas' Gaza leader Mahmoud a-Zahar then made it crystal clear that the organization had - and never would - change its ideological spots or the strategic doctrines which mandate Palestinian armed struggle until Israel is destroyed.

   

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• Israel bowed to international pressure yesterday when it agreed to reopen crossing points into Gaza for everyday goods.

   

  The decision was prompted by criticism of its bloody interception of an aid flotilla two weeks ago and condemnation of the Gaza blockade by the Red Cross.

   

  Tony Blair, Middle East peace envoy, hailed the move as significant after the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, agreed in principle to relax restrictions on goods entering Gaza. It will replace the current narrow list of permitted items with a list of specifically prohibited goods.
• Turkey, however, immediately rejected the format of the inquiry, overseen by a senior Israeli judge. The United Nations had called for an independent, international investigation of the incident in which nine Turkish activists died.
• The Red Cross, a neutral organisation that works in some of the most sensitive conflicts in the world, labelled the Israeli blockade of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza illegal.
• “The closure therefore constitutes a collective punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.”
• Lord Trimble, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in helping to secure the Good Friday agreement in Ulster, will be one of two foreign observers. The other is Ken Watkin, a former chief prosecutor of the Canadian armed forces and a retired brigadier-general.

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