Monday, January 19, 2009

Robert Fisk: So, I asked the UN secretary general, isn't it time for a war crimes tribunal?

It's a wrap, a doddle, an Israeli ceasefire just in time for Barack Obama to have a squeaky-clean inauguration with all the world looking at the streets of Washington rather than the rubble of Gaza. Condi and Ms Livni thought their new arms-monitoring agreement – reached without a single Arab being involved – would work. Ban Ki-moon welcomed the unilateral truce. The great and the good gathered for a Sharm el-Sheikh summit. Only Hamas itself was not consulted. Which led, of course, to a few wrinkles in the plan. First, before declaring its own ceasefire, Hamas fired off more rockets at Israel, proving that Israel's primary war aim – to stop the missiles – had failed. Then Cairo shrugged off the deal because no one was going to set up electronic surveillance equipment on Egyptian soil. And not one European leader travelling to the region suggested the survivors might be helped if Israel, the EU and the US ended the food and fuel siege of Gaza. More...

See also:

  1. "Hatred and rage" threatens Gaza truce, say Swiss press...
  2. Israel "wins" in Gaza, but it's image and its soul have been shattered...
  3. Gaza: Israeli farmers feel the pinch as boycotts increase...

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