Withhold not good from him to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it. (Proverbs 3:27)
A massive winter storm left thousands of homes in Israel without power over the weekend. Up to 80 cm of snow fell in parts of the country, and fallen trees snapped power lines. While the weather situation caused damage throughout the Jewish State, the Israeli government extended its hand and offered assistance to the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip.
The Jerusalem Post reported more than 4,000 Gazans had to be evacuated from their flooded homes due to water levels claimed to be more than two meters high. The UN declared Gaza a “disaster area” and coordinated with Israel the transfer of gas for heating and water pumps through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The Israeli army’s website featured the following commitment to the civilian population in Gaza, “Israel will do everything that is necessary to assist the civilian populations in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria, with an emphasis on providing electricity to the power plant in Gaza.”
The IDF branch in charge of coordinating activities in Judea and Samaria has even opened a joint situation room with Palestinians with a shared goal of assisting civilians with transportation and electricity.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for fuel to be allowed to enter Gaza.
“Gaza survived two wars [against Israel] and it will walk out of this,” he said wearing a heavy coat and the yellow jumper of emergency workers as he toured the affected areas overnight.
Only a Hamas Prime Minister could tout Palestinian resilience against Israel while calling for Israeli humanitarian aid in the same breath.
Israeli aid to the Palestinians; not enough or too much?
