For enemies of Israel, it is of course axiomatic that Gaza is a ‘prison’ and that Israel has ‘cut it off’ thus prompting a ‘humanitarian crisis’. So it was no surprise to find that balanced and fair-minded Middle East Telegraph reporter Tim Butcher reporting today claims by human rights groups that

Israel was inflicting ‘collective punishment’ on the 1.5 million Palestinians by closing the main commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip at Karni. After Hamas routed Fatah security forces in May, Israel has kept the Karni crossing closed. The reason given is that to open it would expose Israeli workers to a security risk. ‘This amounts to the implementation of a policy of collective punishment which is in breach of international law because it involves the intentional inflicting of suffering on a civilian population,’ Miss Bashi said.

…At a joint press conference by Gisha and Oxfam, several Palestinian businessmen said their work had been paralysed since Karni has closed with no Israeli imports allowed in and no Palestinian exports allowed out. Almost 66,000 Palestinians have been laid off because of economic problems caused by the Karni closure with 80 per cent of Gaza’s businesses forced to shut, according to the Palestinian Trade Centre.’If Karni’s doors aren’t re-opened soon and custom codes reinstated, the slide into all-out dependency on humanitarian assistance will be swift and inevitable,” said Michael Bailey, an Oxfam spokesman.Miss Bashi said the small amount of water, medicines and other emergency supplies allowed by Israel into Gaza was not enough to fulfil its obligations. ‘Denying Gaza residents the ability to live in dignity, to lead normal lives, to work and support themselves and their families violates Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law, human rights law and its own national law,’ she said.

But now look at this report which appeared four days ago on Israpundit:

Like great music, the old classics of pathological terrorism cum intentional complicity never die. Last time Hamas pulled this stunt they were refusing to bring food into Gaza from any point other than the Karni crossing - which by a strange coincidence Israel had just closed off because of a specific threat against that specific crossing. Then they screamed hysterically about how the evil Zionists were starving them - a claim dutifully picked up by Reuters and the Red Cross. Now it’s vegetables:

Hamas’s Finance Ministry on Monday barred Israeli fruits and vegetables from entering the Gaza Strip… The Hamas decision will also make it harder for Palestinians to keep fruits and vegetables in their diet, particularly those items not grown in Gaza… Upon hearing that Palestinian private contractors on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing planned to adhere to the prohibition, Israeli businessmen did not send out the scheduled 60 trucks of produce… The fruit and vegetable ban is the latest in a set of anti-Israel moves by Hamas, including continued mortar fire on the crossing, to keep Kerem Shalom closed. On Saturday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said, ‘We are against opening the Zionist-controlled crossing of Kerem Shalom.’

Hamas has actually been stopping Israeli humanitarian assistance at all the crossings. In June they set up roadblocks to block ambulances from evacuating people murdered during their “we were elected so we’re going to take power” rout of Fatah. Last week they actually threatened to mow down Palestinians trying to return to their families through the Kerem Shalom crossing:

In an effort to allow the stranded Palestinians to return home, the IDF recently offered to Egypt to open the Kerem Shalom crossing - which connects Israel, Gaza and Egypt - to pedestrian travel. Egypt contacted Hamas and, according to Israeli officials, was told that if Kerem Shalom was opened they would attack the crossing with mortars and gunfire, even at the price of killing thousands of Palestinians. Israel immediately canceled the plans and is waiting to see if Egypt succeeds in convincing Hamas to allow Kerem Shalom to be used to help the stranded Palestinians.

Wicked manipulation, or what? And look how eagerly the western media and ‘human rights’ NGOs lap it up, with no attempt whatever to discover the truth.