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THE WELCOME relief for Gazan and southern Israeli resdents following the weekend ceasefire must be tempered by grave worries that it is too incoherent to survive for very long. Israel’s unilateral decision to halt its offensive in Gaza has been accompanied by a partial withdrawal, but with no end to the occupation and blockade of the territory which underlies its inhabitants’ deep hostility to the Jewish state.
And the declaration of a weeklong truce in the rocket attacks on Israeli communities by Hamas and other militants is conditional on a complete Israeli departure. Either of these commitments could easily unravel by accident or design. It is now imperative that the intense diplomatic activity should be further built upon in coming days. Otherwise this limited relief from civilian suffering will be in vain. The highly disproportionate death and destruction visited on Gaza by the Israeli offensive is graphically revealed in statistics showing there were some 1,300 Palestinians killed (698 civilians and 410 of them children) and 5,300 wounded during these 23 days of conflict, compared to 13 Israelis killed, including four by rockets. The cost of rebuilding Gazan infrastructure is put at $1.6 billion.
