The Israel Defense Forces have identified and banned a new form of subversion: intifadeh by facsimile machine. Last week the I.D.F. ruled that residents of the Gaza Strip can no longer own or operate faxes without a special license. There were fewer than 15 machines in the hands of Gaza's Palestinian residents, but most of them were at the offices of local press agencies that sell reports on the uprising to the international media. The restriction already exists for Palestinians in the West Bank.

This antifax action could be a mistake, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz said, because it "will obviously serve as a juicy news item throughout the world." Since the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is "unjustified" and "foolish," said Knesset member Ran Cohen, a peace activist, "such occupation produces foolish and cruel orders." But the Israelis have banned communications before. From February 1988 to February 1989, Palestinians in the occupied territories were forbidden to make overseas phone calls.