Legacy Thread

[Bruce A Thompson]

So Tinner

You really believe this line? In retaliation, Palestinian resistance fighters have fired rockets into Israel.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/07/gaza_timeline.html

September 2013: Hamas ally, the Muslim Brotherhood, is ousted from government in Egypt. Egyptian military leadership declares war on Hamas and economically and militarily crushes Gaza by closing down tunnels into Egypt.

Gaza economy experiences heavy losses. Unemployment exceeds 40 percent. Fuel shortages and power outages plague the coastal strip as water and public sanitation systems fail.

Hamas is increasingly isolated in the Arab world. Both Syria and Iran cut their support to the organization.

May 2014: Rocket attacks from Gaza to Israel increase.

June 2014: Hamas forms a national unity government with arch-rival Fatah. Hope among Palestinians is high.

The unity government, controlled by Fatah, agrees tothe following: recognition of Israel, compliance to diplomatic agreements, renunciation of violence. Fatah sets its sight on controlling Gaza.

Israel tells Fatah it must choose either peace with Israel or Hamas. Israel halts peace talks with Fatah-led Palestinian Authority; launches expansion into settlements in occupied West Bank.

Economic conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate. Gaza police close banks.

June 12: Three Israeli teenagers are kidnapped and killed in the West Bank. The PA aides the Israeli Defense Forces in clamping down on Hamas in the West Bank. Tension between Hamas and Fatah escalate.

Palestinian street protests erupt, as much in opposition to Israeli action as solidarity with Hamas and protest against the PA.

Hamas unleashes hundreds of rockets into Israel.

July 7, 2014: The Israeli Defense Forces launch Operation Protective Edge. Its goal: stop the incessant rocket attacks into Israel.