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Gaza in an ever-spiralling vice - downwards

The Palestinians voted in Hamas as their duly elected government. The Israelis, Americans and most EU countries didn't like the result and have effectively suffocated Gaza. With the ouster of the Hamas-led government, the pressure on Gaza has been ratcheted up even more, so much so that political pundits predict the effect to be the training of more militants and extremists.

As The Guardian International explains and reports:

"Israel's latest blockade of Gaza is threatening to destroy the territory's commercial sector and drive more people into the hands of extremists, according to a report published yesterday.
In the last three weeks, 75% of Gaza's factories have closed because they are not allowed to import raw material or export finished products, forcing thousands of families to rely on food aid to survive.

The report by Gisha, an Israeli human rights organisation, concludes that the increase in poverty and dependency will lead to a further radicalisation of Gaza's population which will cause further violence and attacks on foreigners, such as the kidnapping of Alan Johnston, the BBC correspondent freed early on Wednesday after almost four months in captivity. Johnston, who is expected to return home to Scotland on Saturday, spent his first full day of freedom yesterday visiting Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president to thank him for his efforts in securing his freedom."

The shocking thing in all of this is that 1.4 million people are being subjected to intolerable conditions and the world turns a blind eye. Why? The result of all of this can only be dire - for the Palestinians and the Israelis. It also plays out very negatively in the Middle East and beyond. Overall, not very smart politics on the part of the Israelis, the US or the EU.

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