Gaza Blockade Not Weakening Hamas

Hamas gets a lot of supplies through the smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. So any blockade would only hurt the civilian population. But thats exactly what Hamas wants. It uses it's own population has human shields and pawns in the jihad for propaganda. Press TV

The international community's policy to weaken Hamas has failed and should be reevaluated, two leading EU diplomats have said.

The blockade imposed on Gaza is not fulfilling its objectives of weakening Hamas and is just causing great suffering to the civilian population of the strip, European Union Ambassador to Israel Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal said Monday.

"We need to think about alternative policies, because this has not been successful. This is important to recognize," he added.

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Meanwhile, European Commission representative John Kjaer also stated that the closure of the crossings into Gaza had been counterproductive.

Both envoys maintained that there would be no EU contacts with Hamas until the organization accepted the Quartet's three conditions for engagement: recognizing Israel's right to exist, renouncing terrorism, and accepting previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

Since the Islamic movement Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip nearly a year ago, the Zionist regime has held a tight grip on the Gazans, allowing a slim aid inflow into the impoverished region.

The severe shortage of necessities in Gaza from food and water to fuel and medication has sounded alarms over a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the densely-populated strip.