At the end of May 2010, the Gaza blockade - having been in force for some four years - finally received the appropriate international attention, albeit in a tragic way. The blockade has led to a disastrous situation for the local population, which has become entirely dependent on international aid and Hamas. At the same time, Israel has not succeeded in effectively weakening Hamas or even bringing about regime change by way of the blockade. Rather, Hamas has proved successful in entrenching its control. Moreover, Israel was neither able to free soldier Gilad Shalit - kidnapped in June 2006 - nor to stop arms transfers into the territory. The blockade has thus proven to be counterproductive. A mere relaxation of the blockade, as announced by Israel, or a (temporary) opening of the border crossings by Egypt will not remedy the situation. In order to make economic development possible and to liberate the Gaza Strip’s population from the collective imprisonment it has been subjected to, its border crossings will need to be permanently opened and reliably managed in order to guarantee the steady movement of persons and goods. This will hardly be possible, however, without engaging the de-facto government in Gaza.
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