The Israelis would have benefited from history had they done the same and bypassed Gaza when they went into Egypt in June 1967. Since the Strip was first occupied during the Six-Day War, Gaza, far more so than the West Bank, turned out to be a thorn in Israel's side. Largely due to the tough economic conditions under which Gazans live, the Strip harbored more hard-liners than the West Bank and represented more of a headache to Israel's security forces than the Palestinians living in, say, Hebron, Nablus or Ramallah.

And before the Israeli occupation Gaza was already a problem for Egypt. In fact, when Israel suggested the Strip be returned to Egypt, the Egyptians politely declined the offer.

"Gaza is more of a problem than a gift," said the legendary Moshe Dayan, who was Israel's minister of defense during the '67 war.

Gaza's geography counts for one of the reasons why Israel failed to pacify the long, coastal plain, where poverty, frustration and radicalism play a major role. Gaza has little to no agriculture and no resources, other than thousands of unemployed angry young people.

Today the Gaza Strip remains an area of trouble for the Palestinians who live in it, for the Israelis who until recently occupied it and also for the Egyptians who border it.

For the Egyptians, Gazans represent a turbulent neighbor right on their doorstep with a potential pool of recruitable elements that can be turned very easily into troublemakers and infiltrated into Egypt. Not to mention the fact that Gazans demonstrated to the Egyptians their ability to cross the border into Egypt at any time of their choosing, regardless of how tall or wide or electrified a fence might be.

For the Israelis, Gaza remains a source from where terrorist attacks against Israel are launched, as are Qassam rockets on Israeli towns and villages neighboring the Strip.

Now factor in some 1.5 million Palestinian refugees, chronic unemployment, severe overcrowding, religious zealots who believe that killing in the name of God is acceptable and will give them a free pass into heaven; add to that weapons of various caliber, including homemade rockets. Complicate the situation further by installing a blockade turning the Strip into a de facto giant open-air prison where lack of food, clean water and electricity -- with all that encompasses -- are reaching "catastrophic" proportions, according to Karen AbuZayd, commissioner-general for the United Nations' Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

AbuZayd warned that a humanitarian "catastrophe" loomed if Israel continued to prevent aid from reaching Gaza.

Understandably, security remains Israel's primary preoccupation. However, if the history of the last 60 years has taught us anything, it should be that the continued occupation has not made Israel any safer.

History should serve as a guideline of past mistakes so that similar errors of judgment may be omitted in the future. Example: the refusal by Israel and the United States to negotiate directly with the Palestine Liberation Organization on the grounds that it was a terrorist organization. Did this mean there was no dialogue between the United States and the PLO? Of course not. Only it was held through third parties (for a long while, Algeria), during which time was wasted and the conflict was allowed to escalate.

Similarly, history should remind Hamas that so long as Israel continues to feel threatened, chances of a negotiated settlement will remain unattainable.

"Israel wants to be certain that any territory which is returned is not then turned into a base for forces bent on destroying the State of Israel," said an Arab ambassador speaking to this reporter off the record. "And so far, nothing has been done to alleviate those fears," he added.

History, it is often said, repeats itself, and Gaza is a good example of history repeating itself. Both Israel and Hamas are committing the same mistakes as in the past. Israel believes strong-arm tactics will work, when the past clearly has proven otherwise. Put a people in a ghetto-like situation and begin to tighten your hold on it, and the reaction, typically, will be to fight even more.

And if Hamas believes there can be a military solution to this dilemma, and that shelling Israel with its Qassam rockets will improve the lives of its people, it is equally wrong.

(Claude Salhani is editor of the Middle East Times.)

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