Conditions in Palestine

Sir — In blaming Israel for conditions in Palestine Edward Horgan (Letters, Sunday Independent, January 7) failed to mention that there was no blockade in 2005 when Israel withdrew from Gaza. Charles Krauthammer said in a National Review article that “to help the Gaza economy, Israel gave the Palestinians its 3,000 greenhouses that had produced fruit and flowers for export. It opened border crossings and encouraged commerce.

“The whole idea was to establish the model for two states living peacefully and productively side by side. And how did the Gaza Palestinians react to being granted by the Israelis what no previous ruler had ever given them an independent territory?

“First, they demolished the greenhouses, then they elected Hamas. Then, instead of building a state with industry and infrastructure they turned Gaza into a massive military base, brimming with terror weapons, to make ceaseless war on Israel. Where are the roads and rail, the industry and infrastructure of the new Palestinian state? Nowhere. Instead, they built underground attack tunnels and placed their weapons in schools, hospitals, mosques, and private homes to better expose their own civilians.”

Mr Horgan said conditions in Palestine are like a concentration camp. If they are that bad, could anyone explain why Gaza has the five-star Commodore Hotel, the famous Roots restaurant and a new shopping mall? Are they aware that hundreds of Israeli lorries go into Gaza and the West Bank daily through Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, yet Gaza’s border with Egypt is closed? Raymond Solomon, Prestwich, Manchester