Looks like even the terrorists are deserting them.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Hamas ended coalition talks Thursday after failing to secure a single party as a partner, but said it will form a government on its own – a scenario likely to ensure international isolation for the Islamic militants.
The new Cabinet, to be presented to parliament next week, must also win the approval of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been telling Hamas, which swept January elections, that it must first renounce violence and accept interim peace accords with Israel.
Hamas has rejected those demands, also made by Israel, the United States and Europe, which label Hamas a terrorist group. Israel has already suspended monthly transfer of tens of millions of dollars in tax money to the Palestinians, and Western donors are considering cutting aid – a critical element in the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority’s budget.
I’m guessing that the PFLP’s incentives for working with Hamas just got themselves transferred to an Israeli jail. Bummer.
So Hamas is going to go it alone. It will be interesting to see this play out, to say the least.
The Jericho jail bust-out was a relief – it was good to see the IDF do more than lob shells at an empty Gaza field. I don’t care if people say it was just an election ploy by Olmert; it was the right thing to do. Israel needed to reestablish her deterrent credentials.