What's behind the bread and electricity crisis in Gaza?

Sabri Saidam
It is clear that the issue of Gaza is beyond electricity, bread and
humanitarian needs. Israel nowadays could possibly be involved in
attempting to force Egypt to resume control of Gaza that ended
upon Israel's occupation in 1967. It is doing so by creating a
de-facto crisis which the Egyptian can not but respond with
loosening up their borders.

Israel if successful, would have relieved itself from the horrors of
administrating Gaza (even remotely through passage of goods and
humans as well as supply of services) and most importantly would have
shattered the hopes of a united Palestine. Future negotiations
(if the US Administration forces Israel to pursue) will then be confined to
final settlement on the West Bank ALONE. However what Israel is keen to
do is to exercise its utmost efforts to derail talks and finish off wall
construction in the West Bank so swiftly and declare a unilateral withdrawal
(a re-run of what happened in Gaza in September 2005).
Palestinians in Israel's view will then be forced to accept the newly
imposed withdrawal and what remains of their land.

On the Rafah borders front, there are so far two unlikely
(for many) but possible scenarios:

Scenario I: The Egyptians close Rafah by force (if need be)
within few days. Yet given the looseness within the Palestinian society
and the mounting pressures on Gaza upon re-closure of borders,
Palestinians masses will re-try to cross the borders but will be faced by force.
It is possible that fighting will erupt across borders between hungry Palestinians
and the Egyptian border control guards. Egypt will call upon Israel to uphold the
Camp David Treaty, Israel will respond by deeming this issue an Egyptian matter
leaving Egypt with no option but to deploy more troops and step up its army
operations to lawfully control its borders and utilize more effective military
measures and means. If such a scenario prevails, Israel will then declare
that Egypt violated its agreement with Israel by its unilateral decision to deploy more
troops and weapons along the borders in defiance of the Camp David Treaty.
Border clashes situation escalate leading to Egyptian army's partial control of southern
parts of the Gaza Strip to push back border infiltration and therefore be dragged deeper
into the mud of Gaza. This in Israel's inclinations is hoped to become a lasting formula
that gives it the excuse to relinquish all of its responsibilities towards the Strip.

Scenario II: Egypt finds itself pushed to open up Rafah crossing through direct
engagement with Hamas so to avoid any military intervention or direct
Palestinian- Egyptian clashes. Israel will therefore, declare the Rafah Crossing protocol
signed in 2005 dead and use that as an excuse to consolidate its cut off of all ties with
Gaza and turn to the UN to officially announce that Gaza is no longer part of any direct
or indirect Israeli responsibility and that it has become under the full Egyptian
administration or supervision.

In both scenarios, our national aspirations are endangered and Israel would
have fulfilled its long-awaited dream of deposing Gaza and shattering the
Palestinian strive for a state. The only move that can strike a cord in such
scenarios is restoring Palestinian unity IMMEDIATELY. Easier said than
done- Maybe!. However, if no serious moves are made in that direction,
the new map of the Middle East is going to continue to be drawn and
again on the expense of the bewildered Palestinians and their painful cause!