Reuters has this to say about the Hamas/Fatah war that is brewing:
Hamas, Fatah rival factions battle in Gaza, 3 dead
GAZA (Reuters) – Three gunmen were killed on Monday when fighting erupted in the Gaza Strip between Fatah forces backing President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas loyalists, in the most serious Palestinian internal strife since Hamas came to power.The street battles in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis broke out after Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas failed to resolve security disputes in talks at the weekend.
Abbas and Haniyeh, whose militant Islamist group won a January 25 parliamentary election, are embroiled in a power struggle over control of the security forces that has intensified Palestinian fears of a civil war between the feuding factions.
[…] The Gaza clashes began overnight when, according to Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, Fatah security men “kidnapped” three members of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades.
Gunmen from the brigades then surrounded the area where the men were being held and captured four Fatah men, Abu Zuhri said.
[…] Giving a different version of events, Fatah said fighting erupted after Qassam gunmen from a new Hamas-backed police force, whose creation Abbas has opposed, set up a checkpoint and tried to detain the bodyguard of a top Fatah security official.
And the casualty count, buried way down in the story:
A Hamas gunman was shot dead in an initial round of fighting and two Fatah men were killed in a second clash, he added. At least 11 people, including a 16-year-old youth, were wounded.
And then we have the AP version:
3 Militants Killed in Gaza Fighting
Rival gunmen from Hamas and Fatah fought with assault rifles and missiles Monday, killing three militants in the bloodiest internal fighting since Hamas came to power six weeks ago.The fighting was the latest sign the two sides could be sliding toward large-scale clashes. Each group has been training its gunmen for possible confrontation, and Hamas recently outbid Fatah in buying a black market shipment of 100,000 bullets.
Tensions have been rising since the Islamic militant group Hamas ended Fatah’s four-decade control of Palestinian politics with a victory in January parliamentary elections.
[…] The violence Monday began before dawn in the farming community of Abassan in southeastern Gaza. Hamas tried to kidnap a Fatah member, apparently to settle an old score dating back to the January election, said Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa.
The two sides exchanged fire, and a Hamas militant was seriously wounded, he said. That prompted a series of kidnappings in which Hamas seized three Fatah members, and Fatah briefly captured four Hamas militants.
An account of the battle, buried deep in the article, along with the casualty count.
However, the Hamas member wounded in the initial firefight later died of his wounds, setting off a new round of fighting with assault rifles and submachine guns.
Gunmen hiding in fields exchanged fire across Abassan’s main road, sending civilians ducking for cover. Hamas gunmen then ambushed Fatah militants driving along the main road in two jeeps with red Palestinian Authority license plates. One jeep was hit by a shoulder-held missile, killing two Fatah members of the security forces.
Ten gunmen were wounded, including one who was in serious condition.
Isn’t it interesting how both news services buried the casualty count deep within the article? You know if it had been a battle between the IDF and Hamas “militants,” the dead would have been named and aged in the lead, and you’d have gotten quotes from their grieving families. But here, since they are killing their own, for some reason, the names of the victims aren’t as important. Why is that, I wonder? This isn’t the first version of the story; it is a lengthy update written hours after the events occurred.
Could the media be — dare I say it — biased?
You are right about the naming but the casualty count is right up at the top in both, no?
No, the death count is in the headline. The casualty count — ten more hurt — is buried deep within the articles. And the AP headline doesn’t tell you who was killing whom.
Picture the story as an Israeli battle with Hamas. The headline would be something like, “Israel kills 3 palestinians.” The lead would include the names and ages of the dead “militants,” as well as the number of any other wounded, usually with their ages (especially if they were under the age of 20).
The spin is very different when Israel is in the mix.
Ah, I see, crossed-wires on ‘casualty’. I was thinking of it in a more fatalistic sense.
I wish both sides a great deal of success in their fight. The more success they have, the less idiots blowing themselves up and hurting real people there will be.
Yes, Sabba Hillel. Both Hamas and Fatah should have the best of luck.
chsw
It’s like Henry Kissinger’s comment on the Iran-Iraq War: Too bad they can’t both lose. I suppose we can always hope.
Oh, and all you Pali sympathizers out there, this is what a Pali state would look like if they ever did manage to achieve their evil goal of destroying Israel and killing all the Jews. This is the future of the Middle East as you, all unknowing, want it to be. But wait, it gets worse. After a bit the various Arab countries invade to seize the land for themselves and in the course of doing so set off a gigantic intra-Arab war and drive out or massacre all the Palis. That’s the wonderous utopia you can have if those pesky Jews will just let themselves be exterminated. Does that make you happy? Something to look forward to? Why not, it’s what you want, a Pali state, and its forseeable consequences.
In typical fashion of the dysfunctional Arab political culture they are squabbling over who is going to loot the treasury. It’s all the more risible because there is actually no gelt in it.