Blair hints support for Israeli assassination policy in Gaza during Haaretz interview

Date: 19 / 12 / 2008  Time:  16:39
Bethlehem - Ma'an –

n his interview with Haaretz Thursday Quartet envoy Tony Blair made no move to condemn Israel’s reported plot to assassinate Hamas leaders in Gaza, only saying 'things must change.'

On Thursday some Israeli papers reported a military plot to assassinate several top Hamas and factional leaders if the end of the ceasefire resulted in violence.

Speaking from the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem where he spends one week each month, Blair told Haaretz reporter Barak Rabid that “the situation in the Gaza Strip doesn’t affect Hamas,” but said it rater “harms the civilians and there should be a new strategy.”

Blair noted that two weeks ago he spoke with incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Elect Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser James Jones. He said he spoke with them about the need to change the strategy in the Gaza Strip, and said they were aware of the situation.
“I prefer to give them the right to announce policy in the Gaza Strip,” Blair told Haaretz, “but I believe that the majority of people have the same opinion and believe that it is impossible that the situation in Gaza will remain the same.”

"I realize that it is a difficult situation facing Israel since the Palestinian factions are showering them with rockets and innocent people are killed and it may end in a disaster if a projectile hit a school,” he said. He continued to say that he understands the difficulty facing the Israeli leaders, saying it is difficult as a leader when your nation wants action and attacks and “you can’t.”

While Blair explained that he once supported the idea of a truce with Hamas, he acknowledged that “today it is different, because the status quo in the Gaza Strip must be changed.”

He added that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Minister Haim Ramon are also against the continuation of the siege in Gaza, and agreed that the suffering of the people must be ended.

Aren't you worried about a military operation in the Gaza Strip? asked the Haaretz reporter.

Blair answered that “there is no other choice” since Hamas has not reached an agreement with the international community and do not recognize Israel’s right to exit. Situations like this must be opposed in any possible way, he said.

***It is worth noting that Ismail Haniyeh has noted several times his willingness to accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and free of settlements. Rather than this being cast as refusing Israel’s “right to exist” it is often seen as a refusal to accept a “de facto Israel” that has not negotiated its final borders with Palestine.