Who Wins, Who Loses If Israel Ends Its Gaza Siege?

Israel Eases Gaza Blockade: Gains for Hamas and Turkey?

Israel's announcement that it will end its prohibition on a wide variety of civilian goods entering Gaza marks the collapse of the Israeli strategy to topple the territory's Hamas rulers through "economic warfare." The Islamists who rule the tiny coastal strip will count the announcement as a victory simply because they survived the siege. So will Turkey, which backed the activist flotilla whose challenge to the siege ended in bloodshed -- and set off the diplomatic firestorm that precipitated Israel's about-face. The move marks Israel conceding that its Gaza strategy has failed to achieve its goal, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disowned the blockade on Monday, stressing in his remarks to parliament that it was a policy he'd inherited from his predecessors.

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