Here are some ideas on what could possibly be an end-game with some positive outcomes: For the benefit of the region, for Palestine, for Israel, the outcome of this round of violence must advance moderation and movements towards peace and not the opposite. In order for that to happen, the following needs to take place: A ceasefire will be established with the following principles: The Egyptian led (or whoever will lead) the mediation needs to take place between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, the President of all of Palestine, and not Hamas. Abbas must be able to address the real needs of the people of Gaza – mainly ending the Israeli economic siege on Gaza. This should also be in the interests of Israel. The people of Gaza need to see some real reasons for hope. Life has to be better than death. Israel should lift the economic siege, within reasonable security concerns. The beneficiaries must be the people of Gaza, not the Hamas regime. Mahmoud Abbas should be given the credit for this achievement. Israel should immediately grant 20,000 work permits for Gazans who have cleared security. Factories in Gaza should be reopened knowing that they will once again be able to sell their products in Israel, the West Bank and abroad. Through the Palestinian Authority the water and electricity crises in Gaza must be satisfactorily addressed. Egypt will agree to the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza based on the Rafah agreement of 2006 including the stationing of PA troops (not Hamas) at the border and along the 14 kilometer Philadelphi corridor. A regional security plan will be developed within a newly established regional security and economic stability forum initially including Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt (later Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States could join) that will address the security concerns of Gaza, including the production of rockets and their use from Gaza. The Regional Security Forum will be the guarantor of the ceasefire and any breaches will be addressed to the forum. In addition to address the issues of security concerning Gaza, the forum will also address economic development needs of Gaza including the civil servants of Gaza. Israel will release all of the prisoners it arrested during the last month which are under administrative detention and has no intention of prosecuting in court, including the prisoners re-arrested from the Schalit prisoner exchange. Those prisoners from the Schalit exchange who were in violation of their paroles, will be sent to Gaza.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 13:42:23 +0000