HAMAS ENGINEERS ANOTHER CRISIS, BLAMES ISRAEL

    NP:  So, an entirely typical episode of Middle Eastern geopolitical theatre. Hamas, beset by massive and self-inflicted economic and political problems, engineered a crisis it can blame Israel for. It used Gaza’s citizens as cannon fodder and only stopped when threatened directly. Israel responded with justified force after taking extraordinary steps to avoid needless civilian deaths, although some are sadly inevitable. (When Israel sent trucks full of medical supplies into Gaza this week to help with the injured, Hamas refused to admit them. Evidently, the kind of people who push civilians into the line of fire don’t mind if they later die for lack of treatment.).
     And the response of the international community was … to condemn Israel. As always. Still, it’s important to remember that it’s familiar because we have seen it so many times before, even if it seems we’re doomed to never learn from it. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau played his own small but predictable part this week in issuing unfair accusations against Israel. “Reported use of excessive force and live ammunition is inexcusable,” he said. “It is imperative we establish the facts of what is happening in Gaza. Canada calls for an immediate independent investigation to thoroughly examine the facts on the ground …”