Israel may subdue the Gaza Palestinians, but good luck trying to permanently subjugate them. From Ramzy Baroud at antiwar.com:
The ongoing discussions on the Israeli military objectives in Gaza are largely focused on whether Israel is planning a long or a short-term military reoccupation of the Strip.
Israelis themselves are fueling this conversation, with 41 percent of Israelis wanting to leave Gaza following the war and another 44 percent wanting the Gaza Strip to remain under Israeli control.
These numbers, revealed in an Israeli public opinion poll conducted by the Lazar Institute and published by Maariv on Friday, November 10, reflect real confusion regarding the legal status of Gaza, even in the minds of Israelis themselves.
In truth, Israel was – and remains – the Occupying Power in Gaza and the rest of Palestine, despite the ‘redeployment’ scheme from the small and impoverished region in September 2005.
Back then, Israelis convinced themselves that they are no longer the occupiers of the Strip and, therefore, are no longer responsible for it, in accordance with international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.
But they are wrong, even if on September 21, 2005, the last day of the redeployment, Tel Aviv declared Gaza a “foreign territory”. Almost exactly two years later, this supposed “foreign territory” was declared a “hostile territory”, thus subjected to the ire of the Israeli military, should it not respect Israeli sovereignty and pose a threat to Israel’s southern borders.
International law, however, is not beholden to Israeli definitions. The United Nations has repeatedly issued statements insisting that Gaza remains an Occupied Territory.
Moreover, the fences and walls separating Gaza from Israel are not internationally-defined border regions, as designated by the armistice agreement established in 1949 between Israel, Egypt and other Arab countries – following the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948.
