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Analysis: Beyond Gaza

Council on Foreign Relations

Updated: January 6, 2009
Author: Michael Moran

After two weeks of fighting, the United States added its voice to those seeking an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, announcing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would fly to the region to join talks this week (AP). French efforts to secure a truce continue (CSMonitor), though previous UN Security Council deliberations ended in stalemate (NYT), tempered by knowledge that Washington would veto any Council move too critical of Israel. Israel's determination to achieve tactical aims in Gaza (FT) overshadowed diplomatic efforts. Driving home Israel's intention to continue with military operations, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni rejected a Russian mediation offer (Haaretz), telling Moscow "we have no intention to ... legitimize them and pass messages on to them."

Israel says it has targeted Hamas infrastructure, but no attack on an area as densely populated as the Gaza Strip can fail to kill innocents. On January 6, an Israeli mortar shell destroyed a UN-operated school for refugee children (BBC), with local sources reporting scores dead and dozens wounded. Israel says its forces fired in self-defense (Ynet). The civilian casualties have spawned protests around the world (VOA), including large gatherings in the United States, Britain, Turkey, Australia, and across the Middle East. Indeed, signs of the pressure on U.S. allies in the region abounded as Cairo's streets filled with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Jordan's prime minister announced his country's ties with Israel, based on a 1994 peace treaty, would be "reconsidered" (al-Jazeera). As foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid notes in the Washington Post, the attacks have underscored "a yawning divide between the policies of rulers and the sentiments of those they rule" in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and elsewhere.

As the crisis unfolded, the United States has allowed the European Union and Egypt to take the diplomatic point position.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.