Israel pressure on Hamas risks boosting militant's stature

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Israel hopes its displays of military might will pressure Palestinians into turning against the Hamas-linked militants who abducted an Israeli soldier. But the tactic could backfire.

Many Palestinians appeared to rally around Hamas as Israel continued its bombardment of the Gaza Strip with warplanes and ground artillery, including an air strike Friday that destroyed the interior ministry building in Gaza City.

The primary goal is to force Hamas to release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was captured Sunday when militants tunneled under the border from Gaza and attacked an Israeli outpost. Two Israeli soldiers also were killed in the ambush.

The wider objective appears aimed at stirring popular dissent against Hamas, which won elections in January but has been widely snubbed politically and financially by the West for its refusal to reject its hard-line charter against Israel.

In Rafah _ a once bustling border crossing with Egypt _ banners and graffiti celebrate Hamas as heroes for humbling Israel with the brazen assault and resisting the backlash. Only a few blamed Hamas for provoking the onslaught.

"The more pressure Israel puts on us, the more it strengthens Hamas' position," said Adel Abubeid, a 37-year-old father of six children. "If Hamas, before the kidnapping, had 70 percent of the Palestinian street, now it has 300 percent."

Abubeid voted for Hamas' rival, the long-governing Fatah party, in the elections. His support began to switch as Israel and its Western allies tightened the screws on Hamas, including cutting back aid that left the Palestinian authorities nearly bankrupt.

Gaza was hit much harder than the larger and more developed West Bank. Border controls on Gaza had been steadily becoming more restrictive for years, but the area become virtually sealed off from Israel following the withdrawal of troops and settlers last year. The euphoria of autonomy in Gaza quickly faded in the reality of a shattered economy and the loss of even menial jobs in Israel.

For Abubeid and others, the Hamas slap against Israel is a welcome distraction _ even with the threat of more military action and hardships.

"Hamas would be disgraced in our eyes if it gave back this soldier without any concessions," said Abubeid, an unemployed laborer who had earned about 8,000 shekels (US$1,800) a month in Israel before losing his job. "The economic pain doesn't matter. We Palestinians can live on bread and salt."

The International Committee of the Red Cross said its officials were in talks with Israeli authorities to try to get the military blockade of Gaza lifted for aid shipments.

Abu Kayed, a 50-year-old unemployed restaurant worker, tried to sell his camel on Friday to pay off his mounting food bills and overdue rent. His family counts on help from Hamas-backed charities.

"Hamas is more popular now than it has ever been," said Kayed, who has six children. "I don't understand why all the world is crying out for one soldier. We Palestinians are treated like dust."

At a mosque in Gaza City, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged his people to remain united and resolute in the face of the Israeli offensive.

But such words do little to ease the worries that Gaza was on the edge of the abyss. Fatah leaders heaped blame on Hamas _ and so did a few former supporters in its Gaza strongholds.

"I was expecting my situation to be very good" after the Israeli withdrawal, said Ismail el-Shaikh, a 22-year-old who works in a pizza parlor. "I thought the beaches would be open. I thought I would travel, and I expected more economic projects to enter Gaza."

"That didn't happen," he added. "Hamas came instead and the situation is more difficult."

Palestinians hoard food and supplies, fearing lengthy Israeli siege in Gaza

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ In a scene repeated across the Gaza Strip, Nivine Abu Shbeke hoarded bags of flour, boxes of vegetables and other supplies ahead of Israel's invasion.

Left without electricity or running water after Israel knocked out Gaza's power plant, Abu Shbeke's extended family of 23 remained hopeful they could wait out the offensive.

"We're worried about how long the food will last," Abu Shbeke, a 23-year-old mother of three, said Wednesday. "The children devour everything."

Throughout Gaza, Palestinians fearing a lengthy siege stockpiled food, water, batteries and candles as their government warned of a humanitarian crisis if Israeli forces remain here.

The Israeli invasion began early Wednesday, when troops and tanks moved into southern Gaza as part of an effort to force Palestinian militants to release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped during an attack on an army post Sunday.

In Rafah, just a few hundred meters (yards) from where Israeli troops stood massed, there were few supplies. Residents began hoarding groceries the moment they heard of the kidnapping on Sunday.

"You can barely find a candle now in the shops," said an unemployed man who gave his name as Abu Mohammed.

To make matters worse, the run on supplies has sent prices soaring in this impoverished region, which has been badly hit by international economic sanctions against the new Hamas-led government. Residents say potato prices have doubled in recent days, and tomato prices have nearly quadrupled.

Israeli warplanes fired at least nine missiles at Gaza's only power station, cutting electricity to about two-thirds of Gaza's 1.3 million residents, said Walid Sayel, the executive director of Gaza's power company. Israel provides the rest of Gaza's electricity.

The station's three functioning turbines were destroyed and engulfed in enormous flames after the attack. Hours later, white smoke still billowed into the sky, and the power plant's generators were totally black.

Sayel said it will take three to six months and at least $15 million (euro12 million) to replace the turbines and restore full electricity to Gaza's residents.

"The situation is critical and requires quick fixes," he said. The company is working to provide power generators to its most needy clients, "but there are limits to providing alternative solutions," he said.

The electricity cut has also affected water supplies, since electricity is needed to run water pumps.

Tawfik al-Mbaid, a Gaza City official, said the power outage cut water supply to the city by 30 percent, forcing the local government to ration water.

The city is using scarce diesel fuel to run the pumping stations and is operating them for only four hours a day instead of the usual 12.

What little water is being pumped is untreated, because the power cut also forced the water treatment station to shut, said Hassan al-Saradi, an official with the Palestinian water authority.

Israeli airstrikes also damaged a pipe running along one of three destroyed bridges, he said, cutting water to some communities in the eastern Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of Information said in a statement that the damage to the water pipes "threatened the lives of citizens and raised the specter of epidemics and health disasters."

David Shearer, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said it was too soon to assess the extent of the damage, but he was concerned about people's inability to pump water from wells and the power outages to refrigerators and freezers.

Abu Shbeke, 23, said her family in Rafah is among the lucky ones.

Her father-in-law, a police officer and the only one in the family with a job, has not been paid in three months because of the government's budget crisis. But three days ago, he got three 5-kilogram (11-pound) bags of flour, 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of sugar and a jug of cooking oil as well as rice, beans and powdered milk.

He also bought two more bags of flour along with boxes of vegetables, using the money the family makes from an apartment it rents out and by selling cigarettes, she said.

All that food should feed the large family for about four days, she said.

Abu Shbeke sat in the dark in her living room with her sister-in-law Niama and a group of children for several minutes until a relative brought in a candle.

She said it was not the health conditions that worried her, but the Israeli forces.

"We are really afraid, especially of the planes that fly overhead. They keep the children awake and they cry all night," she said.

One little girl burst in: "We're afraid to die."

Abu Shbeke shot back: "You're not allowed to be afraid to die. It's God's will."

"As for me, I say just give them back the (captured) soldier," she said. "What is it worth for women and children to be forced from their homes and have nowhere to sleep and to suffer for the sake of one soldier? I think they should give him back."
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Associated Sarah El Deeb in Gaza City contributed to this article.