Tough Times In The Gaza Strip

I take a break from Barack Obama to note a situation in the Middle East which, even by standards of the Middle East, is startling.

The New York Times reported on 4/12/08 that on the previous day, at least five Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank and gunfire in central Gaza. The Israeli incursion:

came after militants from Gaza broke through the (border) fence on Wednesday and attacked the Nahal Oz fuel depot, the transfer point from which all fuel is piped from Israel into Gaza. Two Israeli civilians employed by the company that supplies the fuel were killed in the attack. Fuel deliveries into Gaza were temporarily halted, but were expected to resume after the weekend.

Haaretz had reported on 4/11/08 that Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh confirmed "Israel had cut off the fuel deliveries after the 4/9/08 attack, then on 4/12/08 announced resumption."

So Israel supplies fuel to the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization which would find the disappearance of the state of Israel cause for celebration. Hamas in turn diverts half of the gas in order to kill Israelis. This leads The New Republic's Editor-In-Chief Marty Peretz, a staunch supporter of the tiny nation routinely accused of apartheid, racism, and all manner of evil, to ask "are the Israelis out of their f****** minds?"

Yes.