As an Egyptian proposal is put to Israel, a human rights leader warns of the 'whistle of the pressure cooker', writes Michael Jansenin Gaza.
GAZA'S FATE hung in the balance yesterday while Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman presented to Israeli leaders Cairo's proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza.
Hamas has offered to halt rocket attacks in exchange for ending Israeli military operations in Gaza, lifting the siege of the Strip, and opening the Rafah crossing to Egypt.
Israel demands the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and an end to rockets and weapons smuggling. Hamas is under strong pressure from 1.5 million Gazans to reach a deal with Israel.
To create a positive atmosphere for the negotiations, Israel allowed in a shipment of industrial fuel for Gaza's sole power station, which shut down on Saturday, cooking gas, and fuel for vehicles.
The only Palestinians entering or leaving Gaza through Israel's Erez terminal were those walking slowly on sticks, those in wheelchairs pushed by Palestinian youths in fluorescent orange vests, and the chemo-bald, heads hidden beneath knit caps. A few ailing and dying Palestinians are permitted to exit and return to Gaza through the kilometre-long tunnel and iron gates of Erez.
On the Gaza end, a few optimistic taxi drivers with enough fuel to get into town wait for custom.
Abu Khalil, told by a friend to meet me, came quickly and we set off down the empty, potholed highway past the blasted, abandoned industrial zone, past a flatbed cart drawn by a grey donkey, past shuttered garages and shops.
Gazans cling to home neighbourhoods because they do not have fuel or money to roam the narrow coastal Strip. Abu Khalil said black market fuel costs 150 times the price in Jerusalem. Bakeries are shutting because they have neither electricity nor fuel. Back-up generators are used sparingly.
Schools and universities are closing for summer because attendance has fallen to one-third to one-quarter of enrolment.
Instead of cars, the streets are filled with battalions of unskilled workers wielding brooms. Each receives $20-$22 a day, enough to provide fresh vegetables and scraps of meat to augment UN rations.
Although streets are tidy, the heavy smell of rotting garbage hangs in the air. There is no fuel for lorries to collect the garbage and carry it to dumps.
Jabr Wishah, deputy director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, said: "People are feeling sad, bad and frustrated. They are scared to death of uncertainty. Uncertainty is more dangerous than danger itself. Will tomorrow bring improvements, stay as now, or deteriorate?"
The international community should listen to the "whistle of the pressure cooker", he said.
He observed that Hamas, which took control of Gaza last June, had not suffered or been weakened by the siege. The people of Gaza are its victims. "It's a miracle that we are still able to suffer . . . "
On cue came the rumble and shock wave of explosions at Khan Younis at the centre of the Strip and the crash of low-flying Israeli jets.
Egypt is the only country that seems to have heard the whistle.
"Hamas is desperate to get out of this mess and secure some kind of recognition. It has to show that people have not suffered in vain," said Dr Eyad Sarraj, head of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.
But he fears Israel will not lift the siege or halt attacks and incursions as the price for an end to Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.
"All we dare hope for is the opening of Rafah," the crossing to Egypt. This would give Gaza an outlet, a means to let off steam, but not end hunger, unemployment, fear and hopelessness.